Battle Princess
by Mjus
Summary: Yugi, his best friend Ryou, the second year Seto Kaiba and the new guy Malik are paired up with a culture project. But suddenly all of them have strange dreams. Is the answer hidden in the painting of the princess?
1. The painting

As if I can stop myself. This fic is just like my earlier fic "Scarlet eyes" inspired by a picture (not the painting I'll describe in this chappie). I felt I just had to write a story behind it. And here it is. I hope you'll enjoy it.

And as for you who're waiting for an update of"Daughter of the Devil" wait for a long time. I haven't even started with the last chapter.

Disclaimer:I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or the picture. Pretty obvious, huh?**

* * *

The painting **

"This is one of the few paintings that survived the war in the beginning of the seventeenth century. It is said that it was painted by the princess's younger sister Ryouko who admired her more than anything. There is a quotation, which is written on the painting's backside, written by someone called Kyoko who we guess was the princess's nurse."

The guide took a look at her papers to read the quotation.

_The war was won but the price was too high to pay_

_Our beloved princess will fight no more_

_Her purity she kept all the way into death_

_Her innocence untainted_

_May her light forever shine upon our land_

_Kyoko_

Yugi Atemu stared at the picture of the princess. She was a true beauty with a slim and catlike body. Her skin was pale and flawless and her dark hair framed her face, neck and shoulders perfectly. She was in profile on the painting, naked and leaning back in a perfect bow, her arms following her form. A deep green ribbon was swirling around her without touching the body, mostly there to hide her private areas. The background was a mist of light blue, pink and yellow.

The group continued the round till the last painting and then they said goodbye to the guide.

"Now, listen up class. You are now free to do what you want. You can go home if you like or stay here. I myself am going home. I hope you have chosen a picture to write about. See you all in class tomorrow."

Yami, Yugi's older brother, stretched and yawned. "This was the most boring afternoon ever. Don't you think Yugi?"

Yugi shook his head no, making his curly blond bangs, which gave a slight contrast to his otherwise black and blue hair, fall into his eyes. "You're the one who hate culture class, not me. This was actually quite interesting."

Yami groaned. "I can't believe you Yugi. Father wanted me to be a prototype for you. Geez, you're more of that than I'll ever be."

Amused chuckles from behind made the two brothers turn around. Bakura Kazuki, Yami's albino classmate and arch-enemy, was here too with his younger brother Ryou, who just happened to be best friend with Yugi.

"I'm impressed you showed up at all, loser," Bakura teased.

Ryou walked over to Yugi and the two of them left their older brothers to quarrel as mush as they wished. They had given up their tries to make them friends.

"I can't believe those two. I swear Bakura came here just so he could fight with Yami," Ryou said with a sigh.

"How come they are such enemies while you and I are the best of friends?" Yugi wondered.

Ryou just shook his head and sighed in defeat. He knew just as much as Yugi why the brothers of theirs hated each other.

They stopped in front of the painting of the princess, both deep in thoughts.

"You like it, young ones?" asked a voice from behind them.

The boys turned around to face a man with white hair and beard. His face was one of a man who had lived long and seen most of what mother earth had to show and what she tried to hide. His deep green eyes were sharp but gentle as he watched them with interest.

"It is a very beautiful painting," Ryou said softly and Yugi nodded in agreement.

The old man nodded and moved his gaze to the painting. "It seems impossible that there is so little written about this beautiful youth. I only know as much as I do because I have her sister Ryouko's dairy in my possession."

"You have? Then the painting is yours too I guess?" Yugi said more as a question than a statement.

"Yes, yes. I lent it to the museum because I thought it was important the battle was not forgotten. I am in fact related to the princess. Ryouko is my ancestress."

"But it's false," said a voice from behind.

The three turned to face Seto Kaiba, a classmate of Yami and Bakura.

"What do you mean: false?" the older man asked calmly to the younger ones' surprise.

"The ribbon was blue, not green," Seto said without taking his azure blue eyes from the painting.

"How can you be so sure about that?" the man asked.

Seto looked down at him, like he often had to do since he was very tall for his age. "It just… I just know."

The man just nodded, like he had been expecting the answer.

"You are more than right. The ribbon was the one that tied the princess's dress together at her back, and you are right when you stat it was originally blue. Where the original painting is no one knows. This one my grandmother painted before she died."

The man left with nothing more to say, not even a glimpse at the friends that had overheard.

Yugi looked back at the woman on the picture and once again disappeared in thought, as did Ryou. It was something with the painting that drove them all three to think of something they could not remember.

At the other side of the hall the owner of the painting looked back at them. "So… you are the reincarnation of the princess. I hope for you to bring me back the real painting," he whispered before he turned into a shadow.

* * *

There is the prologue. Tell me if you want to read the rest. BYW, this fic is an expirement so expect the unexpected. 


	2. Long dead memories

**Long dead memories**

Yugi couldn't sleep that night. He had Ryou over since they had stayed up watching a movie and forgot about time. Bakura had called out of worry, and hadn't been too happy for worrying for no reason.

"Yugi… are you awake?" Ryo whispered from his make-swift bed.

"Yes…" Yugi whispered back.

"What was it that was so strange about that painting?"

Yugi knew what he meant. The whole day they had both had the painting fixed into their minds, as if it had been painted on their very brains. "I don't know. Maybe because she… reminded of… someone I know so very well."

Ryou opened his eyes to look at the shadow of Yugi on the other bed. "Who do you think that man was?" he asked.

"…I don't know," Yugi said slowly. "I seriously don't know. But he somehow gave me creeps. I wish I know why."

The boys slowly drifted off to sleep.

_She saw from her spot behind a wall of swordfighters where she fired her arrows into the army of enemies how the princess's friend fell from an arrow in her shoulder. She left her place to help though she knew it was too late. He was already over her. But what happened next filled up her whole vision._

_His sword never made a scratch on the wounded girl that was the princess's best friend. The princess stared into the eyes of her brother as the battle quickly died out around them. His sword seemed to grow out from her ribcage._

"_I can not let you… harm my… friends," the princess said as blood found its way from the corners of her mouth and tears fell from her eyes for the first time in many long years. "I can not protect them anymore, so please don not hurt them… I… love you…."_

"**NO! _PRINCESS_!"**

"Ryou? What is it?"

Ryou sat in his bed cold sweating. He stared at Yugi for a few seconds, unaware of the light from the night lamp that burned in his eyes, before slowly falling back on the bed. Yugi made his way over to his friend.

"It was just a nightmare," Ryou said, but tears in his eyes betrayed his statement. "It was so real, the feelings were so strong. I could feel how my heart shattered."

Yugi took his hand and squeezed it lightly, offering comfort for his trembling friend. He didn't mention Ryou's outburst had saved Yugi from his own nightmare. A nightmare of his own brother about to kill him.

"She cried," Ryou continued.

"Who cried?" Yugi asked softly.

Ryou looked up at him and Yugi already knew who. "The princess cried."

"What's going on in here?"

Yugi jerked at the sound of his brother's voice and was briefly reminded of his dream. "Nothing brother. Just having bad dreams," he said with a voice he hoped didn't betray he was startled.

Yami stared at them from the door. "Be glad mother isn't home or she'd beat you for having a noisy friend over. Do you even know the time?"

"Nightmares don't come with the clock," Yugi said tiredly.

"She's four in the morning! That's a nightmare. I won't be able to go back to sleep now," Yami said and turned back to his room.

"Excuse him Ryou. He's just such an ass if awoken too early," Yugi said to Ryou, not caring if his brother heard or not.

"Just like Bakura then. They are so alike I wonder it's not because of that hey don't like each other," Ryou said covering his face with his hands.

"That would mean they don't like themselves," Yugi said and couldn't hold back a giggle, neither could Ryou and soon they were both lying on the bed trying to suppress their laughter as Yami was back wondering: "What the heck is so freaking funny?"

* * *

"I swear, school is nothing but a damn curse," Bakura muttered as he took his place beside Jonouchi, a tall blonde boy with brown eyes and always with a playful grin on his face.

"You're not the only one to say that Kura. I hate culture class."

"I hate to say it but we're three about it," Yami said as he took his place at Jono's other side.

Bakura growled deeply in his chest. "The more I learn about you the more I hate you," he growled.

"What a coincidence. I hate you too."

"Grow up you two. Are you seventeen or seven?" Yugi asked as he and Ryou approached.

"Yugi? What are you doing here?" Yami asked.

"Have you forgotten already? We have culture together this term, even with the last year students," Ryou said and shared seat with his older brother.

"Oh, that's right. You both had brothers in the same age," Jono said and looked between them. "You have even more common. Both your brothers look just like you."

That was true. Yugi and Ryou looked like smaller visions of their brothers. Yugi and Yami Atemu both had tree coloured hair in black, blue and blond, Yami's standing out in all directions and Yugi's hanging over his shoulders in gentle waves, and both were thin but well built. Yugi's face was a little rounder though and his eyes were emerald green, and they seemed even darker since his curly blond bangs were pale, as was his skin, while Yami's were dark purple. Yami's eyes were also narrower than Yugi's.

Bakura and Ryou Kazuki were both albino from their mother and it was just the features and body that was different. Bakura's face was hard and his eyes cold while Ryou was the opposite. Ryou's body was also more fragile when Bakura was muscled.

But the older brothers denied it to death. However alike they were, the more they found out the more they disliked each other.

"Stand up."

Everyone stood up as the teacher came in.

"Have everyone picked a picture to write about as your project?" she asked and got nods and quiet yeses from everyone. "Good, I'll write down on the blackboard which painting or sculpture you've chosen and your groups will be formed from your choice of pictures. I'll start from top of the list from first year. So Yugi Atemu, tell me which picture you chose."

"The princess," Yugi said softly.

"Is there anyone else with that one?"

Two hands rose. "So Seto Kaiba and Ryou Kazuki will group with you," the teacher said and went down her list, writing the name of the pictures and the group members on the blackboard, until one painting in particular.

"**THERE'S NO WAY IN THE SEVEN HELLS I'LL GROUP UP WITH THAT SLIME!"**

Bakura and Yami rose from their seats to glare at each other. Yugi and Ryou wished nothing but to sink through the floor and disappear. Their big brothers were so childish. They had both picked a painting of a dark castle on a cliff rising over a dark forest with an approaching storm.

"Sit down or I'll do something I'll probably regret terribly," Yugi threatened his brother and Yami slowly sat down, not taking his eyes from his enemy.

Ryou didn't waste any words since he knew they wouldn't go through his brother's thick head and more or less pushed him back down on the chair and placed himself in his lap.

"It's a good thing you two are here to control those two, they are the top problem in their class," the teacher said revealed.

'I don't know you!' was the words in the eyes of both younger siblings as they shot glares at the taller versions of themselves.

The rest of the grouping went smoothly and there were at least two in each group. Yami and Bakura ended up alone with their painting, no one wanting to be in the middle of their never-ending fight.

"Now at least we know," Yugi whispered to Ryou nodding at their older brothers having a glare contest over a desk. "They hate each other because they are so alike."

Ryou couldn't help but giggle as he placed himself on a chair around Seto's desk.

"What's so funny?" the rarely smiling teen said rising a fine eyebrow at him.

"Yugi told me a good joke that was worth pulling my muscles for," Ryou said softly with a hint of sarcasm.

They were handed a copy of the painting and was ordered to analyze it. Yugi and Ryou glanced over at their brothers and were half satisfied to see them writing with fiery passion.

"At least they will do a very good work trying to overcome each other," Ryou said.

"Was that a ghost of a smile I hinted on your face, Seto?" Yugi asked and the corner of Seto's mouth immediately went back down.

No one reacted on the door opening, but then the teacher demanded everyone's attention.

"All first years please stand up and greet your new classmate, Malik Ishtar."

Yugi saw the milky blond, chocolate skinned teen seemed major nervous, and couldn't help but wonder why he suddenly felt so protective for him.

"Is there anyone who can add Malik to their group?" the teacher asked looking straight at a group of three freshmen, but Yugi raised his hand first. "Oh, Yugi Atemu? Good then. I trust you to make Malik feel comfortable here," she said, a little disappointed that the ones she had chosen didn't accept it first.

Malik gave the teacher a glare through his pale bangs before walking up to Yugi, followed by many annoying eyes. He wasn't a three-year-old runt. He believed he didn't need anyone to tell him what to do.

"Hi, I'm Yugi Atemu," Yugi said kindly and reached out his hand.

"Malik Ishtar," Malik said tonelessly and took the hand.

_Her shoulder hurt and she was bruised and sore everywhere. She was tired from fighting for so long, but still she forced herself to continue fighting. She couldn't just fail on the princess like this. She had saved her life so many times and been there for her when everyone else turned her down._

_She saw him stand over her, ready to cut her in two. She knew she was going to die and gave the best glare she could in her state. But the sword never reached her. The princess was in the way, protecting her once again. The princess took on the death that should have been hers._

"_I can not let you… harm my… friends…"_

Malik jerked his hand back as if he was burned and pressed it over his suddenly hard beating heart.

'What on earth? What was that?'

Yugi rubbed his eyes and looked at the boy once again. He too had seen the vision as clear as day.

"We are analyzing a painting of a princess the second she dies," Yugi said to distract the other from his confusion. "We have two weeks to find out the story behind it and everything we can find about the artist. What to do then will be revealed. Hope you'll like the company, because you'll have to hang out with us for some time."

Yugi turned around and fetched a chair for Malik so he wouldn't need to stand up before he presented the others in the group. "This is my friend Ryou Kazuki and the second year Seto Kaiba."

The two nodded at him before they all sat down to explain the task they were working with.

Yami glanced up at his brother every now and then. He didn't know why, but he just didn't trust that new kid with his brother. It wasn't that he didn't like foreigners, just him being the overprotective big brother.

* * *

That night they all sat in Seto's bedroom trying to finish the analysis of the painting. They had been going for two hours straight when Seto's little brother Mokuba suddenly rushed into the room in a hurry to see his brother.

"Seto! You won't believe what happened today," he cried and jumped onto the bed.

"Really now. Tell me," Seto said and moved his papers from his lap so that his brother could take their place.

Yugi shook his head to the young boy and returned to his analysis. The younger Kaiba was twelve years old, but acted younger for reasons unknown. But the sight reminded him so much of himself and Yami. Glancing over at Malik though he was surprised to se a flicker of jealousy in the other's eyes.

Once again Yugi shook his head slightly as he decided not to push it. If Malik wanted he would tell him in time.

"Who are these guys?" Mokuba suddenly asked as he finished the summary of his day and finally turned his attention to the other three.

"They were grouped up with me for a culture project in school," Seto said simply.

"They look like girls."

Three pairs of eyes glared at the younger Kaiba.

"So do you," they said in union.

It was no denial even from Seto. Mokuba looked much like a girl with his long, pretty raven coloured hair, long eyelashes and lean body. But Mokuba himself would deny it till heaven fell down if he had to.

"Mokuba, I know you're in here," a woman's voice called from outside the door.

The door opened and revealed the perfect picture of a man's dream come true, and the reason why Seto was so tall. Mrs. Kaiba was a stunning beauty with waist-long hair in an advanced knot to tie it into a high ponytail without using a ribbon. It was a little wavy and the majority was black, but there were stripes of gold around her face and crimson in the tops. Her face was perfectly shaped and the pale skin gave more power to her amethyst coloured eyes. Her body was long and slim and had that kind of perfect hourglass shape that any other woman would die for and she moved with a goddess's grace.

"It's late and you should sleep now Mokuba," she said with a tired voice, but her love for her sons shone through her entire being.

"Okay," Mokuba said with disappointment. "Goodnight Seto," he continued and hugged his older brother tightly.

"Night little brother," Seto returned the hug and kissed him on the head.

Running over to the door the young Kaiba hugged his tall mother as well. Watching him run away Mrs. Kaiba turned to the others as well.

"You should finish that now. It's Saturday tomorrow so you can sleep here if you like. You can do the perfection on that then."

The others nodded in agreement and Yugi was the first to stretch.

"Sounds fine with me," Ryou said. "My brother won't be too happy with making his own breakfast again though."

Yugi nodded and couldn't hold back his giggle. "Yea, he wasn't too happy when he called me last night about it. I could actually hear him sulk." Then he turned to Malik, who sat quiet looking at his hands. "What about you, Malik?"

"Me? Oh… I guess. Sister wouldn't mind I think."

"Then it's settled. You all have to sleep in the guest room though, we just have one. Someone on a mattress on the floor since we only have two beds," Seto said simply before his mother could say anything.

"I can sleep on the mattress," Yugi said smiling. He rather saw his friends being comfortable than himself.

"I'll go and make the beds ready for you," Mrs. Kaiba said and left.

"Is it really okay with you?" Seto asked Yugi, his concern confusing even him. "It may be a little cold on the floor."

"Of cause I'm fine, or I wouldn't suggest it."

Seto nodded, not knowing why he so badly wished for the short boy to be comfortable, and definitely not wanting him to sleep on the floor. He didn't know the other two thought just the same thing.

* * *

Malik was awake a long time that night, staring at Yugi's sleeping form. He was still confused over that vision he had had when he touched the smaller one's hand. He had felt pain, regret and despair when that girl had been killed. For some reason, he believed that girl was the princess on the painting, and that the princess was Yugi…

Shaking his head at such silly thoughts Malik turned to the wall and fell asleep, not caring where his dreams took him.

_She watched as the enemies slowly landed at the edge of the forest, all of them finding their place in the lines. She had never been so afraid, not since the princess had come back from a secret mission, so hurt she had been in bed for a week, and should have been there longer if she wasn't so stubborn._

_Looking over at the princess she relaxed a little. The ruler seemed so calm, which also calmed her soldiers visibly. She knew they were all afraid. Who wouldn't at the face of the princess's only full blood sibling. And they all knew, from officer to foot fighter, that the princess really didn't want to bring her army. But she didn't stand a chance alone against an army of vampires. No one did._

"_So, Battle Princess. Are you ready to give up your kingdom to me?" he called from the edge of his impatient soldiers._

"_You know I can not leave the throne to you, brother," the princess called back. "The kingdom needs me."_

"_It was mine to begin with!"_

"_You chose the wrong way brother. Please do not do this."_

"_You are weak Battle Princess. Too weak to guide this land. I will take back what is mine, even if I have to take it by force!"_

_The enemy lines started moving towards them. Still the princess's expression stayed calm. She slowly drew her sword and let the moonlight flash in its blade. Everyone else followed her example._

"_May God show mercy," the princess whispered._

"_Do not worry, princess," she said, raising her short sword. "We do this for you and the kingdom."_

_The princess smiled faintly at her before she let out her war cry, marking the start of this battle._

Seto awoke with a start. For a second, the scene of the approaching vampires was all he could see, and the princess's cry echoed in his ears. It was as if he had really been one of them.

The tall youth sat up and immediately his room came back into his focus. They say that when you turn around after a dream it disappears, but this dream was as recorded in his mind. But worst of all, he knew that the princess, who he had loved dearly in his dream, wouldn't make it.

"Dammit, why do I feel so helpless?" he whispered into the darkness of his room.

Turning to his digital clock he groaned. It was only half past four in the morning.

Not being able to go back to sleep, not being the lazy type, Seto decided to go up. He dressed quickly and made it to the kitchen, but in the kitchen door he jumped startled.

"Couldn't sleep well either?"

Seto blinked. Yugi hadn't looked up, but he guessed the shorter one had heard his gasp.

"Why are you up this early? I don't believe you to be this much of a morning person," Seto said as he filled a cup with coffee, which Yugi had already made for himself.

"I'm not… I just have this funny feeling. Like everything around me is falling apart, and I can't do anything to keep it together…"

Yugi smiled, but it couldn't reach out to the rest of his face. Seto thought that Yugi looked like he wanted to cry, but couldn't.

"Did you dream anything strange?" Seto asked, looking over the cup at his little friend.

Yugi smiled a little broader and for a second his eyes glittered with appreciation. "I really don't know what it was about. I was just staring out of the window, in my dream I mean. It was dark, and raining. In the glass's reflection I could see so many people and I felt eyes on my back. They were all expecting something from me, something that put a weight on my shoulders so heavy I was sure my legs would break…" Yugi fell silent and stared down at the blackness of his coffee. "Do you think it is a memory?"

"What?" Seto hardly had time to swallow his drink before the word left his mouth.

"I don't know, but among the people behind me I could see your face, and Ryou's, Malik's, I even saw your brother Mokuba's face. But everyone looked… I don't know… different. Yet it feels like you should look that way."

Yugi hung his head and for a second Seto was scared his head would come loose from his shoulders.

"You must think I'm crazy," the younger one said tiredly, finally registering what he said.

"The crazy thing is that I don't," Seto said, staring into his cup. "I think you're totally sane. But the most surprising thing is that I'm not surprised at all."

"Of what?"

Ryou stood in the door, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Might as well make more coffee," Yugi mumbled.

"Sounds good," Malik said as he too entered the kitchen.

* * *

"Hey Yami!" Yugi called into the house as he came home, Ryou, Malik and Seto with him. They had decided to shift place just for a change.

"Brat," was the answer he got.

"Your brother doesn't seem to be in the best of moods," Ryou said quietly.

"I give you three guesses of why and the first two don't count."

"Bakura," Ryou muttered.

"How come those two hate each other so much?" Seto asked. Though being classmate to Yami and Bakura no one was really sure of why they couldn't stand each other.

"They have just decided they don't," Yugi said with a sigh.

"Isn't it because Bakura was playing with you when we were younger?" Ryou asked with a slight smirk.

"As if you're innocent. You're the one who always took wrong on me and Yami and hugged him from behind believing it was me, right under Bakura's nose."

"So it's a matter of jealousy?" Malik asked. He didn't have that much of a relationship with his sister, her being eight years older. She was the kind to care for herself, not her baby brother. She always acted as if he was a stupid two-year-old.

"No," Yami said, stepping into sight. He was dressed in a tight, white tank top and baggy, orange pants, bringing out his slightly golden skin colour.

"You're wearing my top again," Yugi said with an annoyed glare.

"So, you want it back?"

Yami moved a hand to grab the edge of the top.

"Not in front of everyone," Yugi half-yelled and started to push his older brother inside.

"Okay, okay, I get it. What are they doing here?"

Yugi sighed and waved at the others to come in. "Culture, painting, project… is there ringing any bell?"

"Don't tell me you're gonna do that all weekend? Remember mother will come back from Kyoto tomorrow night."

"So? We'll probably move over to Ryou's tomorrow morning."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, we do."

The brother's glared at each other. Seto and Malik didn't know how to act, but Ryou went to the kitchen to get himself an ice cream.

"Ice cream, Malik," Ryou offered as he threw a vanilla flavour at the bronze tanned boy, who clumsily caught it.

"Can you have a melon flavour, Seto?" Ryou called as he noticed the vanilla were all gone.

"Sure," the taller said sitting down in the couch.

"Take an orange to me," Yugi called, breaking eye contact with his stubborn brother.

"And a melon to me," Yami called.

Ryou came out, threw the ice creams around before literally falling into his favourite armchair.

"Throw the paper at the table for now," Yugi said as both Seto and Malik looked around for someplace to throw the paper.

"Are you coming here often, Ryou?" Malik asked carefully.

"I'm, believe it or not, best friend with Yugi," Ryou said simply, gladly taking a bite of his ice cream.

"Best friend?" Malik looked between the two and then to Yami, who half lay in the couch beside his younger brother. "But isn't his older brother your enemy, Yami?"

Yami just snorted and Yugi hit him in the head.

"Ouch, that hurt moron."

"You're being rude, asshole."

Yami looked hurt for a second before he turned away with another snort. "Yes, he is," he answered the question.

Yugi shook his head at his thick-headed brother and picked up the history book they had borrowed from the library. "Might as well get this history research over with."

The rest of the afternoon Yugi, Ryou, Seto and Malik spent going through all time scripts, history books and lexicons they could possibly find, and called up several numbers to collect the information and the story about the princess. They even got the number to the owner of the painting through the museum and he promised them that he would lend them Ryouko's diary the next day.

Yami had locked himself up in his room and refused to come out. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt extremely jealous of the three boys that had so much of his younger brother's attention. Sure, Yugi had always attracted others to him, good and bad, but he had no real friends besides from Ryou, making Yami the only one he actually hung out with and trusted.

Yami knew he was overreacting on the others. 'It's just because they all work so fine together while me and Bakura fight about it. I'm such a fool. I knew Yugi wouldn't stay with me forever.'

He walked around in his room randomly just to make his brain work things down. When he finally dumped down on his bed his head hit on something hard.

"Ouch! What the…?"

On his pillow he found a worn, black book. Not thinking of anything better to do, and not wondering where it came from he lay down to read it. Yugi often played in his room and messed around his things, he had just gotten used to find things where they shouldn't be. But the first page made his breath caught in his throat. It was a picture of his brother, but still not really him. It was his face and hair, but the body was one of a girl's.

"Yugi in drag? Have I drawn it?"

It was a pretty picture, printed in black ink. She/he was sitting in the grass picking flowers. The hair danced with the wind and the blonde bangs framed the sweet face beautifully. The dress covered the legs, but left shoulders and neck and a generous part of the chest exposed, and around her/his slender neck was a broad necklace with a stone between her/his collarbones.

The next page was written by hand with the same ink as the picture, but Yami could easily make out his own handwriting.

_Sister, I can not believe how much you have grown into the role as the ruler of our father's kingdom. You will never more be my little girl who blissfully played by yourself in the garden. I long for you. I curse myself forever. I curse you are my sister. No, you will never be my sister again, will you. You are the Battle Princess now. But I will take you back someday. Back to me. I will take you away to a place where we can live far away from our kingdom. Far away from everything that keeps us apart. I will have you back._

Yami lowered the book and stared into the ceiling without focus. The one who had written this seemed to be in the same position as he. The feeling of loss dripped from the words. The writer was losing his sister, just as Yami felt how he slowly lost his brother. Yugi grew up, he knew it, and he knew he couldn't stop it.

Like he could help it. He loved his brother more than anything, just like any big brother did. But as the years went past, he felt that soon Yugi wouldn't need him anymore.

A silent tear of realization escaped his eyes right before he fell asleep.

_She looked so small where she sat in the grass plying with the little kitten. She had always had a pure heart, which attracted many small animals to come and play with her, and the grownups to watch over her from a distance. Even wolves and bears watched over her like bodyguards when she played in the wood. He had seen it for all the six years she had been alive._

"_Sister, do not tell me that is another orphan pet of yours," he said when he came over to her._

_She looked up at him with eyes wide with blue purity and innocence._

"_Actually not dear brother. His mother lives in the stable."_

_Her innocence. How easily it could be taken away, killed and destroyed. How he wished to protect her. Her innocent heart and pure soul. He wished nothing ever tainted the perfection that was his sister._

"_Good, I do not think father would be too happy with another of your pets running around his feet."_

_She stood up, leaving the kitten to run to his mother for dinner, and stretched her tiny arms up for him. Smiling lovingly he lifted her up in his embrace and kissed her forehead softly, just to have a soft kiss on his cheek in return._

"_It is time for dinner, and we better not make father angry again," he told the petite girl cuddled in his arms and started to walk back into the castle._

"_Brother."_

"_Hm?"_

"_Will you always be here with me? Will you leave like mother did?"_

_He looked into her big eyes before he hugged her closer to his chest. Their mother had been banished from the kingdom for reasons only the king and morning guards knew. The only thing that had kept him from executing her was his daughter's eyes._

"_No, beautiful. I will not leave like mother did. I can not leave knowing there would be no one to comfort you when you are crying."_

_She nuzzled into his chest lovingly. "I love you brother."_

"_And I love you, more than anything."_

Yami awoke with a start when there was a soft knock on the door. He found himself hugging his pillow as if it was the tiny girl in his dream.

"Brother, if you're awake and hungry, we have dinner served in the kitchen. Will you come and eat with us."

Yami smiled at the sound of his brother's soft voice. The younger Atemu wasn't mad at him. He could never be. After all, they had just each other. Their mother didn't like them ever since their father had passed away, and now she was drifting around trying to find someone else to fill the place as a lover. Not as a father to her two sons.

"I'm coming Yugi," Yami called back. He could actually feel the smile he got from the younger through the door.

Standing up he went to the door where Yugi was still waiting for him and they went down together.

'You may grow up and away from me Yugi,' Yami thought silently. 'But I will always love you.'


	3. Her name

**Her name**

Ryou sat on his bed reading Ryouko's diary. They had just gotten to his place, though Yami's wild protests, and brought the diary from the owner of the painting on the way. Bakura came in with drinks for them all. He didn't like making breakfast since he was a bit of a sleepyhead, but he was a good chef otherwise.

"You're gonna make your eyes bleed as much as you're reading, Ryou," Bakura told his younger brother quietly.

"But this is not a novel, it is history," Ryou told him, lifting up the dairy with its scarlet leather cover for him to see.

Bakura just shook his head and watched Yugi sip his drink. His eyes flew over to the other two before he sat down against the wall with a drink of his own.

Malik looked at him curiously. He had almost waited for the older albino to be rougher than Yami. Yugi's brother had showed that he could be very gentle, he just had this almost fatherly suspicion towards the ones coming close to his brother. Bakura didn't seem to have any troubles with him and Seto.

"Um, Bakura?" he asked carefully. "Why do you hate Yami? I mean, you seem so nice to Yugi… I mean…"

"Don't say anymore. I know what you mean. You mean that I should hate Yugi since I hate his brother, don't you?"

Malik nodded quietly, a little ashamed for asking, but he was curious. Yugi and Ryou didn't seem to mind the question either, but they paid attention to Bakura's answer.

"Yugi isn't Yami. I have nothing up to the little one. But Yami just makes me sick."

"Because Ryou was hanging on him all the time?" Yugi asked innocently.

Bakura as well as Ryou glared at him through white bangs, but didn't say anything.

"I got it you played with Yugi when you were little, but that is none of my concern. Sorry for being so rude," Malik said in almost one breath, blushing at his own stupidity.

"Not at all," Bakura said, almost to Ryou's surprise. Sure, his brother had nothing against Yugi, but he really didn't like talking about it even with him.

"Will you ever tell me the reason you like Yugi?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, Yugi giving him the same look.

"Well, he was Ryou's first friend and he looked so… I don't know, helpless when Ryou was not there. Do you even know how small you look when sad?" Bakura said with a raised eyebrow of amusement at the younger Atemu.

Yugi just rolled his eyes. He wasn't really sure what to think about the other. Instead he returned to translate the French text they had found on the internet about the painting. He didn't notice Bakura's eyes lying steadily on him.

Bakura knew why he had sympathized Yugi so much when they were little. Everyone just walked past the tiny boy sitting in a corner staring at a toy he didn't dare to touch while Ryou was gone, home in sickness. Yami had always had a lot of friends because he was good-looking and strong, confident among others and an object for many girls attention. But Yugi, the little one was always in his older brother's shadow. He knew that Yami loved his brother, he was just a little self-centred sometimes.

Ryou had been very weak and forced to stay home for some periods of time, and those times Yugi didn't have any playmate. Somehow Bakura felt like he had to replace that empty place between Yugi whenever Ryou was gone. And Yugi had simply accepted that it was him. Yugi didn't see the differences between people and people, he saw them for what they were.

"Plus, Ryou still sleeps with that teddy bear you gave him, remember?"

Yugi stared at Bakura before he moved his gaze to a blushing Ryou.

"Is that true?"

With a death glare at Bakura Ryou reached for the old teddy from behind his pillow. He didn't want anyone to know about the bear so he hid it there during the days. Not even Yugi knew he still had it since every time Yugi was over, or the other way around, Yugi's presence somehow replaced the bear's. But like he had any choice now.

Yugi giggled when Ryou placed the bear in his lap and hugged it as he glared draggers at Malik and Seto who quickly looked away, Malik biting his tongue to suppress a snigger.

Finishing his drink the older albino left the group alone.

"Hey, guys. I think I've found something interesting," Ryou said once he had read through a certain page.

"Read it aloud," Yugi encouraged him.

_Mars 15, 1630_

_The princess is suffering. I heard from Miss Malin that the king was the last one of her relatives still alive or close to her. I could tell from her face, I could tell from her movements. It is a terrible loss on her, and the worst is that I can not think of anything to help her. I feel so helpless. Kyoko said that she never had seen such purity as the princess's suffer so hard. Neither have I. Miss Malin told me that last time the princess lost a family member she got angry, so angry in fact the whole castle feared her some time after that. But this time she just went to her room in silence, not saying a word and not looking at anyone._

_I wonder what he would have done if he was still here. The princess's brother. I do not know his name since it is forbidden to ever mention it, especially now. I think I know why though. I heard from Malin that the princess's heart was shattered when he disappeared. I asked her why he disappeared, but she would not answer such a question. Still I think I know. _

_I really think the princess loved her brother, just like she loves everything else around her. I wonder how he is now, wherever he is. Does he still think about his only sister?_

It was silent after Ryou read.

"It seems like the princess had a brother, but we haven't found anything about something like that," Seto said, eyeing through his notes.

"That's right," Malik shot in. "What we have found out the princess was the king's only child. But then again, what about Ryouko. You told me she apparently was the princess's sister."

"And we still don't have the princess's name," Yugi said a little annoyed.

"And I don't know about you, but I think this Kyoko girl who was supposed to have written the note at the backside of the painting is not a nurse. Ryouko talks about her as a member of a family. But that would be impossible," Ryou said frowning, turning the pages to the beginning a bit.

"Yeah, that means that the princess had three siblings in total," Malik said.

"Then once again, you read "his only sister" about that brother of hers," Seto said.

Yugi ruffled his wavy hair wildly as if he had become crazy, making the three colours blend together. "I can't take all these riddles at the same time. Let's get further with this and maybe we find some more answers later."

"Good point," the others agreed retuning to their tasks.

Yugi's text didn't cast much light over the situation. Malik's uncovered that the princess's mother had been banished from the kingdom, but not why. Seto's text was more like gossip. Like that the queen was a whore and had four children with different fathers.

"That can't be so much to walk on," Malik said biting on his pen.

"I don't know," Yugi said. "It would make some sense if it was true."

This simple statement made the others stare at him as if he had grown a second head.

"It would be nice if you explained that," Seto said wide eyed.

"Oh, well. Ryou read that the princess had just one full blood brother, so I believe she had those two with the king. The queen got banished, if she turned into a whore to make her living and had other children, they would automatically become the princess's half siblings. Ryou also uncovered that the princess's brother disappeared. If he did and Ryouko, and maybe even Kyoko, was taken in at the castle after it, of cause they wouldn't think of him as a brother of theirs, would they?"

"And then I've found another thing," Malik said quietly.

"What?" Ryou voiced the other's thoughts.

"Well, it's probably just a coincidence, but both girls' names ends with –ko. Maybe the princess's name also did."

"Not impossible," Seto said thoughtfully. "A mother often wants something that connects her children. I don't believe a whore could give anything to her daughters but a name."

"You're right," Ryou said. "That's probably why Yugi and I are so alike our brothers."

That caused them all, including Seto, to laugh. Like a mother could ever decide what her children would look like.

"Yuniko."

"Eh?"

Ryou sat and just stared at the random page he had pulled up. "I seemed to have missed a page in the beginning," the albino said and started to read.

_January 17, 1630_

_I am so lucky. All of my dreams have come true at the same day. We were accepted into the castle grounds and placed among the higher ranked slaves, which alone is a dream. I have never seen such a huge place and so many people living in the same place. Mother said that most of them are cleaning the castle every day, and with such a huge castle I understand why they need so many to do it. _

_But suddenly she came. The princess. I wonder how many times I have tried to imagine this girl, but all my visions of her suddenly feel very unfair and not even close to the truth. I have never seen such a beauty. At the whorehouse where my mother worked there were a lot of pretty girls, but they all look like dead weed beside the princess. She offered me a room of my own. I am not sure why, but she insisted, and I can not refuse an order of a higher class, especially not from her. I feel so ugly when she is close. So dirty I do not dare to touch her. I feel like her white dress will turn black if I touch the silky material. She also invited Kyoko to an own room. It looked so funny. Kyoko have always been so cold, calm and unaffected by her surroundings. But when the princess come close and smiles to her, she blushes like nothing else and her movements become almost clumsy._

_But I still wonder what became of mother. I refuse to believe she has been taken away from us for good. The princess herself told us, but I still refuse to believe. Why would she leave? Why would she have been taken by those creatures? I can not understand, and I can not believe. I do not know what to believe in. But as I am here, inside the castle of my dreams, my worry slowly fades away until it is just a small, stinging prick in my heart._

_The princess just showed me and Kyoko to a room where we could have a bath and clean ourselves. But even though I feel like I scrubbed my skin off, I still feel so dirty beside her._

_She told me to address her by her name. But I can not do it. She has a beautiful name, Yuniko, Unicorn. I feel like I am not worthy of addressing her like that. I know even Kyoko feel like me. I wish I could understand what the princess plans to do with us. I can not believe she would do anything dirty, like selling us away to someone. A pure heart like her… no, it is not possible. She wears her heart on her sleeve, letting it spear light all around her. Yuniko, it is a suiting name. The name of purity itself._

Malik and Seto nodded in agreement.

"What we have found out about her I believe Ryouko is right. Yuniko is a suiting name for her. Even looking at the picture it feels just right. Don't you think so too Yugi?"

But the little one didn't seem to hear. His eyes were gazed over and he stared at nothing, like he couldn't see. Ryou was already there by his side shaking him with worry written all over his face.

"Yugi, snap out of it! Please don't look like that."

Yugi blinked and his eyes focused for a second. Enough to look up at Ryou's face. But then he suddenly fainted into his friend's arms.

"Bakura!" Ryou yelled for his brother in panic.

The older albino rushed into the room and looked around rapidly until he found his brother with an unconscious Yugi in his arms.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I read something from that diary and suddenly he was all zoned out."

Malik and Seto could just watch. Ryou was out of his mind with worry and for some reason, and Malik and Seto found their hearts rate picking up until they beat hard enough to break their ribs. Bakura took the situation in his own hands and started to give orders.

"Call Yami while I try to wake him up. That freaking idiot should know better if it happened before. You two, get me some water and something strong smelling."

Ryou ran over to the phone and dialled Yugi's number with trembling hands. He didn't know why he was so scared all of sudden. It just didn't feel right that Yugi, the most living person he knew, would faint just like that. He was fine before he started reading.

"_Yami,"_ came a voice from the other line.

"Yami, it's me. Something happened to Yugi."

"_What? Ryou? What happened?"_

"I don't know, he just… fainted. He looked all zoned out and… I don't know what happened, he was just… out of it. Hallo? Yami are you there?"

But the other line was silent as Yugi's brother already was out of the door running towards Ryou's house.


	4. Dreams?

**Dreams?**

They sat in silence in the waiting room at the hospital. They hadn't been able to find any life in Yugi except his heart and breathing. Bakura had tried to carefully drop some water down his throat, and Yugi had actually coughed it up, but nothing more. And he hadn't reacted at the vinegar under his nose.

The older albino held his brother's trembling form close. The younger was so tense and his eyes were wide open and filled with grief and fear, though he could not see what was in front of him. He was unable to even think of what had, and what could happen. He simply didn't dare to. Because if he did, maybe he would realize something he didn't want to know.

Bakura knew why Ryou cared so much for Yugi. His brother had always been weak, and Bakura had protected him from bullies all his life. But because of that Ryou was left outside with no one to be with. That was when Yugi and Yami moved to town and was placed in the kindergarten with them. Yami had quickly made many friends, but Yugi was shy and not as confident around people. But he was a pure hearted and kind child. He had walked straight up to Ryou the day he started and given him the teddy bear he had brought along. Ryou didn't dare to ask Yugi to play with him, but Yugi did even if no words were shared between them.

The days went past and Ryou still hadn't talked to Yugi though they were playing a lot together. They were left alone since Bakura always was watching over them to make sure his baby brother was okay. Then one day Ryou started talking to Yugi, telling him his name. Yugi had smiled and hugged him, telling him Ryou was his best friend. Since that day Ryou hadn't talked about anything else than Yugi when he came home. Their parents had been laughing at him for being so hyper about Yugi, and at the same time happy to see how Ryou looked when his smiles was true. That was why Bakura had played with the younger Atemu when his brother was sick. For the sake of his brother. But he hadn't liked it when his baby brother mistook Yami for Yugi a few times. That was just one reason he didn't like the older Atemu. But it was mostly because of his arrogance.

The corner of Bakura's mouth went up briefly at the thought of Ryou still having that teddy in his bed. The younger couldn't sleep without it.

So what would happen if Yugi wasn't to wake up. Ryou would be in despair and misery for years. Bakura just knew that. Yugi meant so much to him. Without the shorter friend Ryou would lose a part of his heart.

Yami was pacing back and forth slowly, biting his nails and praying. He had never seen his brother unconscious, and was out of his mind with fear for the younger to leave him. Of cause he had friends that could comfort and encourage him, but that wouldn't give his brother back. Without Yugi he would be alone. Friends or not, Yugi was a part of him. He couldn't even imagine the little one's body lifeless. He had seen him sleeping deeply, now unconscious… but dead. The thought just seemed so… impossible.

'I know you won't be around forever. But please don't do this to me,' Yami prayed with his entire being. 'You can't pass away before me. You are too young. You have your whole life lying in front of you. You can't just leave it lying there like a forgotten path. Please Yugi, I beg you. Don't leave me.'

Seto didn't know what to think. He didn't even know why he had come with to the hospital. He hated hospitals. His sister had died at one just three years old. But now he was here, once again having that black feeling of emptiness filling his heart. But why was beyond his understanding. For how long had he known the younger Atemu? Two days? He had come in on his life within two days! The thought of him befriending anyone so fast seemed to him impossible. Yet, he was scared out of his mind. He didn't want Yugi do pass away as little as the others did. Still it creped him out what for.

_She sat in her new room and watched the color of the sky shift swiftly. From the innocent baby blue to red, orange, pink and gold, to the ink blue color of night. She had seen it hundreds of times, but tonight is was prettier than ever. She didn't notice the presence of another in the room._

"_The sunset is truly pretty tonight," the princess said softly, startling her out of her shoes. "I did not mean to scare you Kyoko," Yuniko said tenderly with the smile of someone whose heart held nothing but love._

_She was sure the princess could hear her wildly beating heart. Heat rose to her face and she blushed heavily, not daring to replay._

"_You should not fear me Kyoko. There is no reason. But there is many things you wish to ask me. I can see it in your eyes. So ask, ask whatever you wish. I can answer them all."_

_She looked up into bright sapphire blue eyes, right now they also reflected the red light of the sunset which turned them almost into amethyst. She quickly looked down at the edge of the princess's dress, feeling unworthy to even look at such a beauty, such purity._

"_I… Your highness, can you please tell me why… you offered me and my sister own rooms on your… your highness's level?"_

"_Father is furious about it, but the day he can say no to me is yet to come. Your mother, her name is Hannah, isn't it?"_

"_Yes… your highness."_

"_Please call me by my name. When we are alone like this there is no need for formality."_

"_Yes… my princess."_

_She couldn't help it. The word that was the princess's name just wouldn't leave her throat._

"_I guess you need time to adjust to this new order of life. But to answer your question, it was because you and I share something, something that I lost at young age and you just recently."_

"_My princess, I don't understand. I…I am…"_

_She fell down from the chair to her knees in front of the princess. Tears of confusion and misunderstanding fell from her eyes. She couldn't hold them back anymore. She didn't know what was going on, and she hated it more than anything. The princess, she was too nice and her beauty… she herself had always been considered as the whorehouse's highest beauty. But she felt so dirty, black with mud and sin, beside the pure princess._

"_Princess, I am a child of a whore. I am lower than dirt. I should never even draw your eyes upon me. I do not deserve it. Princess, I am so dirty, so ugly. Looking at me will hurt your eyes."_

_What happened next made her stiff like a statue. The princess bent down and hugged her tightly to her chest. She could hear the princess's heart's calm beating through the fabric of her white dress._

"_You claim yourself to be dirty because you are a child of a whore. But if so, I am just as dirty as you. Because what we share, what we have both lost, is our mother. Your mother is mine. That is why I ordered you and Ryouko to live at my level. You would be princesses like me, but I can not do that to you. It is far too much responsibility that should rest on my shoulders alone. So please do not consider yourself as dirty anymore, because you are not."_

Seto blinked as the image of the memory flashed through his mind within a heartbeat. The princess, she was a splitting image of Yugi, with blue eyes as deep as heaven itself. Her warm body, the feeling of being dirty and unworthy, the long saved tears. The princess was a reason to live. To always be there and protect her. But what it had to do with Seto he wasn't sure of.

Malik was on the edge of panic, though he hid it better than anything. His insides were jumping around like crazy rabbits and he was so stiff he couldn't move. He felt it like he was loosing himself into a void of something he didn't want to know. He realized, as sudden as a flash strikes, that he cared more for the young Atemu than he believed he could.

'Yugi accepted me and was my friend from the very beginning. He didn't judge me for being an outsider. I don't want that to end just like that. Please Yugi, you can't just come and give me hope just to take it back like this.'

Malik was Egyptian from the beginning. He had moved to Japan with his family at the age of three to flee from the Egyptian police for reasons unknown to him. Here he had quickly picked up the Japanese, though he still talked his native tongue at home. But he had been bullied all his life. His sister didn't care about him, and he couldn't help but envy Yugi and Ryou for having such protective and loving brothers. His father worked at an international corporation and had his office in Paris. He only came home once a year to check if everything was fine. His mother had a small company on her own and traveled throughout Japan, Russia and China to sell her products. And after being alone for his whole life and to suddenly be accepted in a _group_ of friends… it was like a dream.

'Yugi, you didn't come close to me out of sympathy, did you? You shone through my walls of darkness. Please, please don't leave it like that.'

Dr. Lou, who had taken care of Yugi, came into the room. He had dealt with this kind of situation before, felt the heavy aura of anxiousness in the air. But he had never felt anything like the atmosphere that currently occupied the waiting room. He could deal with everything from mischief, grief and sorrow to relief and all it meant. But what he felt in the waiting room and saw in the youths' eyes… it was fear and a close to inhuman hopelessness.

"How is he?" the one standing in the middle, who the doc guessed from his features was the little one's brother, whispered with his eyes wide open and his voice cracked.

"You can come with me and take a look for yourself," Doctor Lou said quietly, wondering just how important the kid was to these people.

Yuniko woke up slowly. It was still early, but she suddenly wasn't tired. She had dreamt she was somewhere else.

Looking over at her mother's bed she found it empty. It was strange for the queen to leave the chamber before the little girl had awoken.

Realization hit in like a flash when she noticed herself in a mirror. She wasn't supposed to look like that. She was supposed to be a boy, a sixteen year old boy. But she wasn't, she was a six year young girl.

She shook her head as the thoughts made their way through her young mind. Her name was Yuniko, princess Yuniko. But he was named Yugi Atemu.

Blinking her thoughts away the very young princess got up from bed and dressed in a short dress her own mother had sewed to her. She was nervous for where her mother was. The queen loved her two children. The six year old Yuniko as well as the ten year older prince Atemu.

The guards weren't outside the door either. That was even stranger. Considering of how protective her parents as well as her brother were about her she was almost never without a guard or family member around.

Feeling something really out of place Yuniko ran down the corridor towards the throne room. If something was out of place something often happened there and it almost always attracted the whole castle.

She was right. Peeking into the huge room she saw everyone there, almost. It was still so early just the morning guards, a few servants and the royal couple were there. But the strange thing was that the queen was currently kneeling before the king, who seemed very angry.

"Woman, my queen. I can not believe you were able to try something like that."

"She is my daughter," the queen said with solidity. Not fearing what her husband would do to her. "You have no right to force such responsibility upon her at her mare age. She is just a little child."

"Silence! Since when did the queen have the right to scold me, the king? I understand more than anyone you love our daughter. But to try to take her away from her home… Where would you go? What life can you offer her outside the castle?"

The queen looked up into the king's eyes, calm and safe, like she had always been. She knew the king loved her, as she knew very well what he was capable of to do, even with her.

"A life," she said.

The fury was written all over the king's face. He lifted his hand and slapped his wife hard across her beautiful face. Yuniko gasped sharply. She didn't understand what was going on, but her father wasn't supposed to ever raise a finger against his queen.

"Guards, take her to the cells and execute her at sunset," the king ordered and turned his back to the still kneeling woman.

The guards moved forward to grab the former queen, but something suddenly rushed between their legs and stood between them and the woman.

"Princess? What are you doing here? You aren't supposed to…"

"Father!" was all the princess yelled and moved her flashing crystalline eyes to the king.

His fury melted away with the silent tear that ran down his daughter's innocent face. He couldn't finish his punishment now, not when she was against it. But he also couldn't set his wife free.

"Samuel, escort the princess to the prince's chamber and make sure she stays there."

Samuel was a young man with crème colored hair and a son two years older than the princess. He was good with children and the princess was a good friend to his son. He took a step closer to the princess, but she ignored him.

"Father," she said again, lower this time. The king was actually wrapped around her small finger, almost.

"I won't hurt your mother. But her crime needs punishment. Now, follow Samuel to your brother's chamber."

The princess gave Samuel a hard glare when he stepped closer to her. She turned to her mother, who was watching her with all the love only a mother held to her child.

"Do not worry about me, precious. I will come back to you," the former queen said and caressed her daughter's cheeks lovingly.

Yuniko curtsied to her mother before she strode past the soldier on her way to her brother's room. She was born in this castle. She didn't need anyone to hold her hand. Samuel sighed silently at the princess's stubbornness and followed her in her tracks.

Atemu had never his door locked for reasons only he knew. Samuel knocked on the door, but Yuniko went straight in, climbed up onto the bend and crawled over to her awakening brother.

"Yuniko? What are you doing here?"

The princess didn't replay as she hid her face in his bare chest, silent tears rolling down her sweet face.

The prince was instantly wide awake and embraced his sister tightly. He looked up at Samuel with angry questioning in his eyes.

"Your majesty, the queen has committed a very serious crime and the princess saved her life," Samuel explained quietly and bowed for the prince.

With a gesture of his head Atemu ordered the guard out of his room. He knew better than anyone his sister was wise for her age. She knew her mother wouldn't be there anymore.

"Sister, tell me what happened?"

Yuniko shook her head and moved up so she could place her small arms around her brother's neck and hide her face there as well.

Atemu sighed and lay back down, drawing his sister down with him and let her weep.

Yami followed the doc and had to remind himself to breath. Bakura more or less carried Ryou with him as the younger could hardly stand up on his own. Malik was so tense he had a hard time moving. His bones cracked when he did and when he finally stood up he walked like a robot. Seto was like a shadow. An empty body that just followed the winds.

Yugi lay motionless on the bed. His face was neutral and a machine beeped out his calm and steady heartbeat.

"Could you please tell me again what happened?" Lou said turning to a ghostly pale Ryou.

First the words failed him. His throat was so dry it would hardly let air down. Bakura fetched a glass of water and forced it down his brother's throat, knowing perfectly well what he was doing. Lou let him be. The older albino seemed to be the only one calm enough to act.

"We were working on a project for school," Ryou started with a hoarse voice that didn't really carry. "I read a text aloud, that told us her name. He was fine before I started to read. But then… when I stopped… he was… zoned out. I tried to get him out of it. He stared at me… like he didn't know me… then… he…"

Ryou's eyes landed on Yugi's still form, unable to talk anymore.

"Has this happened before?" Lou asked looking from one to another.

"No," Yami voiced almost inaudible, shaking his head slightly. "He has always been so alive. Only in sleep he is motionless, but still alive. Not like this. Not… unable to wake up again."

Lou nodded in understanding. Yugi's condition was very confusing even for him. It was like he was just… shut down. But he wasn't. There was a life in him that was just out of reach. It couldn't be considered as a coma. A coma was a real shut down of mind.

"I can't say I am sure of this. But apparently the boy is dreaming," Lou said thoughtfully while eyeing through his notes. He took out some pictures and handed them to Bakura, since Yami seemed unable to let go of his own hands. "Take a look at these."

Bakura couldn't say he understood all of the pictures. They were some X-ray pictures and normal photographs of the little one's body parts. But something was really off with the X-ray pictures. He wasn't too used to this kind of thing, but it didn't seem usual.

"We haven't taken any blood test yet for different reasons. There is nothing on his body that spill that a nerve has been pulled or anything. But his body sure has an interesting edification. We will keep you informed, but before you go. You are his brother, aren't you?" Lou asked Yami. The older Atemu just nodded his head yes. "I need a blood test from you as well as I need you to fill a formula…"

"Yugi?"

At Ryou's small voice they all turned to the boy on the bed and found silent tears falling from his closed eyes. But otherwise he was as still and neutral as before.

"As I said. We believe him to be dreaming."

"But if he is, why can't you wake him up?" Malik asked, even his jaws cracked as stiff as he was.

"We don't know… yet."


	5. Malin

Hi again. Here I am with a new update, and a very long chappie on that. This fast update is for my wonderful reviewers S2Teennovleist and Tessie only. I luv U so much!

Oh, a little explanation of the titles in this chapter. Majesty is only for royalties, but highness is used for noblemen, never for a royal.

**XXXXXXXX-**change in time

**Discalmer**: I never owned YuGiOh! or the pic this fic is based on, but the plot is mine.

**XXXXXXXX**

**Malin**

Yuniko sat outside the sable and watched the stableman Watson clean and trim the horses. Her own horse, a young cream colored full blood named Starlight, was happily playing with her friend, Firebay, a young bay with the color of fire. Starlight's silvery mother Moonray was being trimmed for the moment and at her side Catmother, as the stableman called her, was feeding her kittens.

She longed for her own mother. The prince was away for a meeting in the nearby village and the king was too busy for her, as always. She had busing herself with lonely games ever since the queen was banished. But she had promised to return, so the princess waited for her.

"Your majesty. Would you like to come with me and my son for a ride to the forest?" the stableman asked kindly. "Starlight seems to be longing for some freedom after being locked up in the stables all winter."

The princess smiled happily at the suggestion. "I would love to," she answered cutely.

"Well, then I should start planning on a way to convince your father to let you go," Watson said with a tired sigh.

"He will never allow it if you ask him," Yuniko smiled.

"I guess, so what does your majesty suggest?"

The princess blinked slowly before she looked back up at the stableman with innocent slyness. Watson laughed of amusement. It was the castle's little secret, but the one who actually ruled the kingdom in a few questions was no other than the eight year old princess. The guards laughed in silence behind the king's back whenever the princess showed up and decided instead of the king, who was mad for it most of his time.

"Go tell our dear king where your majesty is going and change and I will have the horses and Kay ready when you get back."

Yuniko happily patted Catmother's head as goodbye and started off towards the white castle. In the early spring the clinging ivy at the east side was slowly sprouting with new life. The courtyard was alive once again with people running with their different tasks. Dogs ran around and some puppies tried to jump up into the princess's arms, but she gently put them back down. Above the towers of the castle a wild eagle circled, watching over the princess. It had been since it learned to fly two years ago and had protected the little girl when needed. He was named Guardian, for he was the princess's undefeated protector. The sky was innocently blue, just like Yuniko's crystalline eyes, but most inhabitants of the castle believed nothing could be more innocent than the princess's eyes.

Blissfully and with the grace of a dancer the princess moved in a straight line towards the open gate of the castle. She knew her father was in another pointless meeting about the new year's different issues and blessings.

Suddenly there was a yelling from the great wall surrounding the castle with its courtyard and small village, where the servants and slaves lived. Someone wished entrance to the castle.

The gate was open due to the prince's absence and many visitors at this time a year. But even if the castle was open for travelers, suspicion was the keyword always going around, mostly to keep the princess safe. She was the most precious treasure of the castle after all, why she was called "the treasure" during attacks and robbery.

Today it was a big family who wished for the castle's safety. Yuniko stopped in her tracks to study them before she went inside, she would have time to look them up later.

She went through the mass of halls and stairs to come to her father's whereabouts, gaining one and a few greetings from the servants. She knocked on the door with her small hands and was almost immediately let in, her knocking recognized.

"What do you wish for, seeking me out now, daughter?" the king said with suppressed annoyance.

"The stableman Watson suggested taking me for a ride. Starlight needs the motion after being locked up. Will his majesty let me go?"

There was just a few who managed to control their expressions. Others had to bit their lips, cheek or tongue to stop the sounds of laughter threating to come up. They all knew the king couldn't refuse his daughter anything.

"If that is all you wished for, then go ahead and have fun," the king said, smiling kindly at his daughter, whose purity always melted his heart until it was beating warmth throughout his body.

"Thank you," Yuniko said and curtsied for her father and turned to leave. "And we have guests at the gate," she said as an afterthought.

In her room Yuniko dressed into a pair of soft, white pants and a simple white shirt. The shirt was warm enough, but just in case she put on a blue tunic before she wrapped a broad belt around her slim waist, held together with a round silver buckle with a difficult design and a flashing ruby in the middle. A pair of soft, high boots clad her tiny feet and she took on a leather wrist glove, just in case a falcon or something would drop down to playfully nipple her ear or just telling her they were around if she needed them. At last she wrapped a deep blue hooded cloak around her shoulders.

Knowing smiles and winks greeted her when she walked towards the exit to finally go for her ride. Even dressed as a boy she was very cute and just as loved. There even was a rumor in the lowest circles of slaves that the princess could tame the devil himself to eat from her hands.

When she reached the exit she once again saw the small caravan of carriages, now inside the gates and close to the stables. She didn't need to fear them and she was everything but shy. Watson and Kai stood ready beside the stable with the horses, throwing suspicious glares at the travelers.

Everything seemed to slow down as the princess moved in a straight line towards the stableman and his son, which would lead her close to the carriage. Slaves slowed down and looked up, guards reached their weapons unconsciously and even the dogs stopped in their paths, watching the scene. Guardian glided low, ready to protect the precious princess if needed.

The courtyard, a moment ago filled with life and laughs, was suddenly silent, cold and uninviting. The newcomers all felt the hard and suspicious glares at them from everywhere, except for one little girl.

The older of a set of female twins, totally different in attitude, had an evil glint in her keen, mud-colored eyes. When the princess was about to pass them, she let out her foot to trip the pretty boy, as she thought it was. But Yuniko stopped once she felt the leg being put out in her path.

Starlight suddenly neighed in anger, and the other two horses had to be held back by force by two stablemen, Watson and his son. Even the horses in the stable fought against the ropes tying them to place.

Yuniko didn't turn towards the now mad girl. She looked straight ahead like the princess she was, her wavy hair moving in the soft breeze.

The newcomer opened her mouth to say something to make the other react, but a few puppies started to snap angrily at her. Guardian lowered himself and landed at the roof of a carriage, making a sound deep in his throat. The older dogs were growling, all showing their white lines of sharp teeth threatening and their fur stood straight up in anger.

"You should be thankful," the king said slowly, nearing the trembling caravan. "Humans can control their actions, but the animals can't. If that daughter of yours had actually tripped the princess, she would have died, ripped apart by the dogs."

A guard, standing closer to the princess and the little girl than the others gave the stranger child an icy look. "She just saved your life brat. Move away from the princess, or you _will_ be attacked."

The little girl finally registered how silent the yard was and how many hard and murderous glares were aiming her way, from slave to the king. She slowly moved her foot away and the princess started to walk again, as if nothing had happened, never giving the other as much as a glance.

The humans went back to their tasks, once in a while firing hostile glares at the travelers.

"You should be careful with who you are picking a fight. The princess has many friends among the animals, however much I may dislike it," the king said to the leader of the small caravan as his daughter easily calmed the horses and dogs. Guardian rose from the carriage to land on top of the stable and watch the princess from there for the while.

"That was… the princess… your majesty?" the man asked nervously.

The king nodded and watched his treasure sit up on Starlight and fire a charming smile his way. The castle's inhabitants were soon back into the happy chattering and dreams of the new year as Starlight happily jumped around with the skillful princess on her back before she followed Watson and Kai.

"But she was dressed like a boy," the girl who had tried to trip the princess spoke up rudely.

"Her majesty dresses like she wants to," a guard answered for the king, aiming an icy glare at the girl who obviously lacked tact as well as common sense.

The king accepted the caravan of travelers to stay inside of his walls, but he couldn't protect them if they harmed the princess.

The carriage was granted a place near the great wall, since the guards weren't too friendly with them and they wanted to avoid troubles.

"That stupid show-off," the mean girl said to her twin sister. "She thinks she is so high and mighty. I'm gonna show him, her, whatever, that no one messes with me. You'll help me, wont you Malin?"

Malin, the younger of the twins, nodded carefully. Her sister Mina would never leave her alone if she refused her anything.

The twins could hardly anyone guess were twins. Malin was timid and shy, a very sweet girl but she was always afraid. Her skin was bronze-colored and her blonde hair was unnatural pale. Her eyes also held that rare purple color. If she hadn't looked so strange she would have been loved dearly by those she met. But she wasn't. That was her sister.

Traveling wasn't the safest way to grow up, always surrounded by people she didn't know, always fearing what was hidden in the dark nights. She couldn't even trust her own family. They were thieves. They used her as a bait to lure their preys to them. But this time they had been warned. This castle, which they had had in thought to ease from a few weights of gold, was protected by more than humans. The huge golden eagle above them, the dogs running around and the horses in the stable… it seemed too dangerous to try to steal anything from here. Their little falcon didn't stand a chance if the eagle attacked. Besides, even the slaves didn't trust them, and would of cause not tell them anything.

"Mother said that we should stay away from the treasure chambers of the castle, but I won't. Not now when that show-off lives in there. She may think she is smart, but I know she is as trusting as all the others we have fooled. You will pretend to befriend her and lure out where the treasure is hidden. Then I alone will take some of it with us."

**XXXXXXXX**

The princess was blissfully riding with the two others. She loved the feeling of freedom she got whenever she could just ride out like this. But she knew it wouldn't last forever. She was a princess from the beginning to the end, and she had a kingdom to take care of. But she also was wise enough to know who to trust and who to be careful with. This far though, she had had the servants, slaves and soldiers to protect her. Even the dirtiest of slaves in the castle loved her.

"Your majesty, we should rest and let the horses lose for now. We can eat the food we brought too," Watson said gently as he rode up to her.

Yuniko gave him a smile and stopped Starlight so she could jump off. She removed the halter and stepped back as a sign Starlight was free to go playing.

The young horse looked disappointed for a second, but then she lovingly nuzzled her playmate and started to run off, just feeling the spring in the air.

Watson and Kay also released their horses. They knew better than others that it was safe to let them lose as long as the princess was with them. Animals were simply drawn to the pure hearted royal girl and came to her whenever she called.

Guardian caught a rabbit on the field and landed on a stump, not too far from the group, to eat it in peace, keeping an eye at the treasure.

Two years ago, just when he had learnt how to fly, the young golden eagle hurt his left wing and was unable to. Another eagle was about to kill him to feed herself when _she_ appeared. The princess had healed the wing and he was soon flying again. Ever since then he had watched over the girl, saving her as she saved him. He lived under a roof of the castle and was able to fly in if he wanted to, though he rarely did. But he fed himself and had nothing to tie him to the place he lived in. He just wanted to see that the girl was fine. It was no promise since his simple mind didn't work as a human's, he simply saw the girl as something similar to a mate, just… not a mate.

"I would say I envy you, princess Yuniko," Kay said as he stared at the impressing king of heaven. "But when I look at Guardian I wonder if I really do. Are you not afraid of all wild animals running around you?"

"I feel when I should be afraid," Yuniko said simply over her cup of hot tea. "And along with the animals I have no fear. Besides, it is not just Guardian who watches over me. The forest hides more eyes than you can count. You want me to call him out?"

Watson gave her a nervous look. He didn't know of everything the princess was capable of doing, and the way she had said that sent shivers down his spine.

"Please let it be, your majesty. I like my picture of you as it is. Please do not jeopardize it."

Yuniko smiled kindly and understanding at him though Kay seemed a little disappointed. Just like oh so many boys in the castle, as well as in the village outside, he was in love with the blue eyed beauty. Even in her mare age of eight she attracted a lot of eyes not only because of her title as a princess. But Yuniko seemed totally oblivious of the longing looks from the boys around her. They could never guess how very well aware of them she was.

When they had eaten Kay took the young princess for a walk while Watson collected herbs and plants for the healers in the castle as they had asked him, as well as a few he could use to clean the horses' skin.

Kay talked lowly with the princess, throwing longing eyes at her every once in a while. He was two years older than her, but oh how his heart arched at the thought of himself being a son to a stableman. However much the princess acted and talked to him as one of her class, he knew as well as everyone else she had to do her duty as a princess and marry to a prince or high nobleman. The mare thought made him sigh with depression.

"Something is happening."

Kay looked up from his shoes to look strangely at the princess.

"Something is moving far ahead of us."

The princess looked straight ahead with a slight frown on her beautiful face. Kay couldn't sense, hear or see anything off with their surroundings. But the wind that blew slightly harder was cold.

"We have to return to the castle. Things are not safe here anymore."

Yuniko turned on her heel and quickly strode back to where Watson still was collecting herbs. She whistled for Starlight, who came galloping together with the other two. Guardian squeaked slightly from his stump and flapped with his mighty wings. He felt the strangeness in the air, just like Yuniko and the slightly nervous horses.

"Stableman Watson. We have to return to the castle," the princess said with demanding voice, something she rarely used. "It is not safe here anymore, I can feel it."

Watson was on the horseback immediately and led the way back to the castle.

Yuniko glanced backwards to watch the forest with its unknown fear become distant. She couldn't see anything, not feel eyes upon her or something stretching out for any of them. Guardian was gliding high over her and couldn't see anything ether, even with his so much sharper eyes.

**XXXXXXXX**

Malin sat outside the stable waiting for the princess. She had been there for about an hour and was by now quite hungry. Dark clods of rain were heading towards the castle from north when she finally heard the stomping on horses. She was surprised to find that they were galloping towards the stable.

The three horses came into the little thieve daughter's view, and she could tell the horses were uneasy. Even the riders had looks of anxiety written over their faces. They had probably been riding for quite some time for the horses to be dripping with sweat.

"It is still there, but we are out of danger," the girl who was the princess said lowly as she jumped off her almost exhausted horse. "You have to calm the other horses and clean Starlight. I must inform father about this."

"Your majesty, what is happening?" the stableman asked anxiety, worried because the princess was.

"I do not know yet. But I will find out. But the birds do not stop singing a full hour before a storm."

"Storm?" the other boy who had followed the princess said and turned his head towards the dark clouds.

"It will be another of the hard spring storms," the princess said calmly. "You, the girl over there."

Malin hid quickly and her heart jumped into her throat.

"I have already seen you girl. You need to warn your family." The princess came around the corner and looked at her with concern. "The wind is coming from north. Tell your family to place the carriage along the north wall and you'll be protected against the rough wind. Trust me, I have seen it before."

The princess started to walk off towards the castle, throwing warnings all around her, making the people turn their heads towards the north and started to cover what could be covered and placing things to be shielded from the wind. They all took it very calmly. They were all used to storms.

Malin ran over to the caravan at the south wall to tell her family about the storm.

"Mother, there is a storm coming. The princess told me we should place the carriages along the north wall. She told me it is not safe here."

"I know better than anyone how to protect my own carriages, you stupid girl," her father snapped at her. "And I say that we do not need to move since the wind comes from the east."

Malin couldn't say against her father, or she would be beaten.

There were yelling at the great wall and high pitch neighing of horses. A brilliant black horse galloped all the way to the stable. The young man who rode was dressed in a deep blue cloak and gave orders to the stableman who silently took them, a proof the man was used to give orders and to have them obeyed. He started to run towards the castle, before he noticed the caravan. He made his way over to it and was met by Malin's father.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the man asked. No one could see his face since it was hooded and the sky was darkening fast, but he had a sword at his side and he had nice clothing. Malin supposed he was a nobleman.

"We are travelers and is seeking night camp here, your highness," Malin's father said calmly over the wind which picked up in speed rapidly. "The king himself accepted."

"At the south wall with an incoming storm? Take your carriages to the north wall if you wish to survive this. Spring storms strikes hard and fast. You have just a few minuets to move away from this wall. Lightning may strike into the towers and with the hard winds the projectiles will hit this wall with killing force."

"But the wind is coming from east your highness," the leader of the caravan tried.

"What are you thinking with?" the man yelled impatiently. "Or have you never been inside a castle's walls? The wind blows in different directions on the ground. It is an illusion. But the wind comes from north. Now move away from here and you may save your lives."

"Brother!"

The man turned around and met the running princess, still clad in cloak and pants. She jumped up into his arms and he swung her around in greeting.

"Brother, father wish to talk to you." She then moved her crystalline eyes to the caravan. "Have you not moved yet? Hurry up before…"

Thunder flashed and the boom was heard just two seconds later. Hugging the princess tight to his chest Atemu ran to the castle's safety, leaving the caravan to its fate.

Malin trembled and tugged her mother's sleeve. She was scared.

"Move the carriages," her father said lowly as rain suddenly splashed down at them as if the sky had just dropped a bucket right over them.

**XXXXXXXX**

Malik lay quietly face down on his bed. Rain had started to fall outside in heavy drops and seemed to mirror his mood. His sister had scold him as soon as he had come home, telling him his mother was home and just out for the evening with her little company before she would have a week off to spend with her two children.

He was still worried about Yugi. No, he was scared. His heart beat painfully slow and hard against his ribcage and he felt cold. His usually warm skin was freezing, but he didn't bother to pull the blankets over him. It wouldn't help.

Voices outside his closed door told him his mother was home. He had actually longed for this, to spend some time with his mother. But with Yugi at the hospital he couldn't find himself to enjoy the usual fantasies he kept having every time his mother was to come home.

His door opened and cast light into his dark room, revealing him on his bed. His mother sat down at the edge.

"Isis said you haven't been home for two nights, Malik. Why?"

"They asked me if I would sleep at their places," Malik said, not explaining who "they" were or why "they" would ask him for a sleepover.

"Malik, I haven't seen you like this before. Don't tell me you are in a gang."

Malik snapped and rose from his bed.

"Why do you keep believing I will just lead myself into trouble? I'm no kid anymore. I can take care of myself. I don't need anyone to hold my hand."

"Malik!"

The young boy fell silent under his mother's flashing eyes.

"I can not believe you. I know you are in the age to be rebellious, but this? What have you messed yourself into?"

"Nothing, mother. We were just grouped up for a project and they took care of me. You would like them if you met them."

"So what's with the heavy mood of yours? You have done something."

"No, but one of them is at the hospital for reasons we don't know. And it's not because he was in a fight, he just… fainted and hasn't awoken yet."

"You started school this Friday and you actually think we will believe that you have befriended someone?" Isis said from the door. "How old are you, Malik? Still in grade school? By now you should know you can't lie to us."

"I'm not lying. I have the numbers if you want to check them up. But the four of us have something in common. We all have siblings. But I am the only one who has a sister. How ironic she has to be such a jerk when the others' are so nice."

Isis stormed into the room and grabbed Malik's arm to hit him, but she quickly jerked her hand back.

"Malik, you're freezing," she half yelled.

"I know, its cold moron."

Mrs. Ishtar touched Malik's cold skin and he had hardly time to react before he was forced into his bed and covered with three layers of blankets.

"You will sleep now and tomorrow you will leave me those numbers so I can check your so-called friends up and you will come home directly after school," his mother scold him before wounding up the elevator and leaving the room.

Malik stared at the closed door. He hadn't eaten anything since that drink Bakura had served him this same noon, but he couldn't say he was hungry. He kicked off the blankets and put on his nightshirt before curling up into a tight ball between his sheets, trying to gain some heat.

**XXXXXXXX**

The storm was over, but not without damage. Lighting had hit the highest tower and the metal spear at the top was stuck in the south wall, just where the caravan had been just moments earlier.

Yuniko had spent the night in her brother's room but hadn't been able to talk to her father. But she couldn't feel it any longer, that evil from before.

"Morning, my little princess," Atemu whispered in her ear as she began to stir.

Dozy crystalline eyes looked up into smiling night blue orbs. Her brother's mass of wild, tricolored hair stood out so he looked like a hedgehog. The little princess smiled sweetly and nuzzled her brother's chest.

"Do you think Guardian is fine?" the tiny girl asked carefully.

"You mean that stubborn suitor of yours?" Atemu teased. "I believe he is fine. That golden eagle knows how to protect himself."

"What about the caravan?"

The prince sighed in annoyance. He hoped that man had taken his word as an order and moved his family out of harm.

"Let us go and see if they made it," he said smiling.

Yuniko kissed her brother's cheek lovingly and crawled out of his embrace. "But _first_ I _have_ to see if Guardian is fine."

Atemu chuckled, amused at his sister's way to always get the last word. They all knew where the eagle lived, but the princess was the only one who could go near him and be safe. A servant had tried once, and he never went anywhere close to the tower. The eagle's sharp claws had made deep scars on his back and shoulders.

The princess dressed in a long, baby blue dress. Her brother had made sure to place a few cloths for her in his room. It wasn't rare the young princess wanted to sleep in his bed. She needed the human contact that was always denied her from everyone else.

While the heir went to the small dining room where the royal family ate in private the princess took the many stairs up into the tower where Guardian lived. The older servants complained about all the stairs, but the quick and agile princess wasn't bothered about that matter. She was still young and healthy and made it to the top of the stairs without breaking a sweat.

Guardian lifted his head from under his wing when he heard the light footsteps of the princess in the round room under the roof and peeked his head through the open window.

"So you made it Guardian. I am so happy for you," the young treasure said and looked at him with eyes sparkling in the morning sunlight.

The huge golden eagle made inside and playfully nibbled the princess's perfectly wavy hair. In return she patted the soft feathers in his neck, easily finding his pleasure spot which made him lower his head to allow her better access. The princess scratched the eagle's neck for a moment, before she let go and went to the window to see what the storm had cased this time.

Guardian, satisfied with the little morning fluff, clumsily walked over to the other window and flew out to get himself some breakfast.

**XXXXXXXX**

Malin's family's small caravan went over the damage from the storm. Flying projectiles had crushed the caravan's provisions carriage and one of their horses had died. The rest had made it to the north wall without too serious damage. Right now, though not said out loud, they were thankful for the warning from both Malin and the nobleman from the day before. The north wall had invited for much more safety.

The younger of the twins were freezing. She was soaked to the bone and was afraid she would be sick if she couldn't find warmth soon. But she wasn't alone. Everyone from old to young looked like drowned rats and a few of them were sure to die from the flu.

Mina suddenly grabbed her sister by the arm and dragged her away from the family.

"Why did you not just stick to the plan?" Mina asked furiously.

"She knew I was there. She told me to warn you from the storm," Malin defended. "The princess is sharp. I can not trick her."

Mina slapped her sister across the face. "You are making excuses. I do not need to hear them. You know what I want to know and you will give it to me like the good girl you are. I will take your food today too as punishment."

Malin's stomach suddenly grumbled in protest, and Mina laughed at it. "See. If you do as I say you will be able to fill your complaining stomach."

Yuniko saw it all from her high position, though she couldn't hear the voices. She knew from what she had seen that the little girl from yesterday night was bullied. The other was the one who had tried to trip her.

Sighing in slight depression, knowing there was nothing she could do for the other, the princess went back down to eat with her family.

**XXXXXXXX**

A day at school had never been so long. Malik just waited for the last period so he could visit Yugi at the hospital, completely ignoring his mother's treat. The teacher said that Bakura had called that Ryou was ill and he had to stay with him. Malik thought he knew why. Ryou had looked completely destroyed when they had left the hospital the day before. He hadn't cried, but his helplessness was worse than tears.

Yami was home too. He had tried to be at school in the morning because his mother had forced him to, but he soon had to go back home. He couldn't even hear what the teacher had said, or remember what he had said, more than that the older Atemu was allowed to leave.

Seto was in school too, forcing himself to concentrate at his work, but his thoughts managed to sneak back to Yugi once in a while anyway.

The minuets felt like hours, and Malik still was cold. No, he was freezing. A fever was rising steadily during the day, and when the last bell finally rang, the Egyptian boy was pale and blushed from the fever.

Seto and he walked to the hospital together, Malik denying the fact he wasn't feeling well. Seto didn't say much about it, but at least helped the younger to stand when his legs wanted to give in under him.

"You didn't need to come here just because of a slight of fever," the nurse, whose identity card read Lili, said before the boys could ask about Yugi.

"No, we're here to visit a friend," Seto said patiently.

"Not with him being in such a bad shape," Lili said, but Malik gave her a begging look, and she sighed. She had never been able to look at a sick person without trying to help.

"Here, swallow this and the fever should go down steadily," she told him and gave the tanned boy a drug to force the fever down.

"We're looking for a boy named Yugi Atemu. He's sixteen and in a dreaming state," Seto said.

"Oh," Lili voiced, knowing who they meant. Yugi was the only one in the entire country to be in that dream state. "Come with me."

Nothing had changed in the young boy's face. It was still neutral and his wavy hair fell over his pillow like oily black and blue water. It was still shiny and the curly blond bangs framed his sweet face.

"He looks alive still," Seto said lowly.

Malik nodded at the statement. Even in his strange state Yugi looked alive, more so than yesterday.

**XXXXXXXX**

It was late afternoon and Malin was wandering around with high fever looking for the princess. She fell once in a while, but no one helped her up again. She felt sick. She wanted to cry for the pulsing headache. But she couldn't she was so hungry and could hardly see straight. Mina had promised that she would have food once she knew where the treasure was located.

But there were more problems. Malin's fever rose still and she could soon not make out any faces.

She heard someone walk up to her from behind, but she couldn't react. She was exhausted and hungry. Once again her legs gave in under her and she fell backwards.

**XXXXXXXX**

Malik felt how his fever still rose, in spite of the drug he had been given. But the drug made him sleepy as well. His eyes went in and out of focus and Seto had to support him again when he started to fall.

"I'll call a doctor," Seto said and left Malik to lean against the bedside.

Malik looked over at Yugi's face again and met his green eyes. The Egyptian boy smiled slightly and fainted into Yugi's outstretched arms.

**XXXXXXXX**

Yuniko looked at the unconscious, feverish girl in her arms. She had just found a moment to go outside to look for the bronze skinned girl, and when she finally found her, the girl fainted on her.

"Sister? Who is that?" Atemu asked, concerned for the stranger child's health.

"She belongs to the caravan, but she is sick," the princess told him calmly. "I guess her family does not like her too much, or she would not walk around like this. She could die. Will you help me take her to Lisa?"

The young prince nodded and lifted up the unconscious girl in his arms, offering her some warmth from his body, and carried her inside. The princess walked before him and was well aware of the evil eyes that stared superior at her. Her fast working mind put two and two together and now knew what the caravan really was. Just another bunch of thieves.

**XXXXXXXX**

When Seto returned to Yugi's room with Lili he found something he wasn't prepared for. The nurse quickly went to bring Dr Lou so he could study this new situation. Seto walked closer to the bed. Malik lay on top of Yugi using the small boy's chest as a pillow. He lay as if he had been sitting on the edge of the bed and just fallen over the other, a slight smile still visible on his face. But that wasn't the strange thing. What was strange was Yugi's position. His head rested lightly at Malik's and his arms were gently wrapped around the bronze skinned boy. They looked like they had fallen asleep like that, in each other's arms.

Letting react take over Seto ran to find a phone and call Yami.

**XXXXXXXX**

Malin woke up slowly. The first thing she noticed was that she was warm and lying on something soft. Warm hands touched her face gently and low voices reached her ears.

"She will be fine. The child is lucky you care, my princess. Please keep blessing her with your care, and I am sure she will be just fine soon."

"Thank you Lisa. It means a lot," another, very soft and beautiful voice said.

"Father wanted me to see him this afternoon," another voice said. This time male. "Samuel is outside if you need anything sister. Be safe will you."

"Of cause brother. I am always safe."

Two set of footsteps went out of the room she was in. Malin started to stir, believing the one left was gone as well as her mind didn't work properly.

Something weighted down beside her and she looked up into a beautiful face framed with curly blonde bangs and black and blue wavy hair.

"Yugi?"

The other smiled down at her. Wait… her? Wasn't she supposed to be a boy?

With sudden realization Malin blinked and stared with wide eyes at the princess leaning over her.

The princess smiled and leaned closer to whisper in her ear.

"Welcome to Scotland Malik."

**LINELINELINE**

To update the next chapter I must have at least five reviews. It's not worth it to keep writing if no one is reading it.


	6. Ugly Reality

Hm, I'm coming so far with the story I just have to update now because when I've finished the story I will be very busy with what I plan to do with it. I've decided to make a manga of it, Haha (don't say anything, I know I'm crazy).

Another thing I've noticed is that there is a few misdoings in these early chapters that will be confusing the further the story goes. I will try to change those little misdoings as soon as possible.

**Disclaimer**: I never did, never will and still don't own YuGiOh!**

* * *

Ugly reality**

Malik's cell phone rang in the otherwise silent room. Dr Lou looked at the others' confused faces before he opened the phone and said a hallo in it.

"_Malik? What happened to your voice? Where the hell are you? I told you to go straight home after school. That's it. It's house arrest for you! Come home right now!"_

Yami and Seto exchanged glances. The high pitch voice was enough to make anyone crazy. Lou had to hold the phone away from his ear.

"Ma'am, I'm not Malik. Are you the boy's mother?"

There was a stunned silence at the other line, before the voice of Malik's mother, even higher this time, started to scream again.

"_And **who** are **you**? What have you done to my son? For your sake I hope he is okay or I will call the police! Where are you? Where is my son? Give him the damn phone and tell me what has happened right now!"_

"That woman sure has the voice," Seto mumbled to himself.

"Ma'am. My name is Dr Lou and I have your son at the hospital…"

"_The **hospital**?"_ Mrs. Ishtar screamed, if possible, even higher than before. _"Just **what** has happened? I demand you to tell me **right now** how he is and why he is at the hospital. Let me talk to him **right now**."_

Yami shook his head and had to admire Dr Lou's ability to stay calm. But he guessed it came with being a doctor.

"Your son is unconscious and we can't wake him up. We don't know what have happened. But if you come here I am sure we can straight things out."

"_I **really** hope for both his and your sake you are not kidding me. I'm coming with my daughter as well and when I come I want a **full** and **complete** explanation."_

"You will have just what we have in our hands." Lou looked over at the other two with a thoughtful expression. "I will meet you outside the hospital together with a very tall, brunette man."

Seto glared at him for that, but he understood the woman had to know what she was looking for. And he was easy to see over most heads with his 5 feet 91 inches (note: I've checked).

The woman screamed some more before she hung up and Lou closed the cell phone.

"That woman had a voice of an opera singer," Yami mumbled and had Lou's silent agreement.

Malik had been placed in a bed beside Yugi's. Since the two boys seemed to be in the same strange condition Lou wanted them in the same room. Malik's smile from before was now gone and his expression was as neutral as Yugi's.

"We better go out. We don't know how far away that woman lives and I seriously don't want her screaming in here, she'll make the deaf cover their ears."

Yami smiled slightly at the statement and looked over to his brother. Seto went out with the doctor and Yami sat down to watch his younger sibling once again.

Guilt was built up in his being. He didn't know what for, but it was.

"What are you dreaming of?" he asked the unmoving form at the bed quietly. "Are you happy wherever you are?"

A slight smile made its way over Yugi's features, as if to answer the question.

**

* * *

**Malin stared at the princess's smiling face and had her help to sit up. Her head spun with questions and confusion. Slowly she made it out of bed, and just then realization hit in. She screamed as if she lost sanity. 

Samuel dashed inside and Atemu was soon after. Seeing the girl at the floor the prince bent down to her and shook her.

"Snap out of it! What is wrong?"

"**I AM A SIX YEAR OLD GIRL!"** Malin screamed right into his face.

Silence followed the scream and the two men stared confused at her. Yuniko though couldn't suppress her rich laugher and soon lay helplessly laughing at the bed. Malin blushed crimson all the way to her hair roots.

"And what, if I may ask, would you be otherwise?" Atemu asked confused as well as amused by the strange situation.

Malin found no answer and even if she had one she wouldn't have time to voice it. Her stomach talked for itself.

"Brother, may I take the girl to the dining room so she can feed? I promise I will take her back after that."

Atemu glanced at his sister, which always was a mistake whenever she asked for something she shouldn't since she had her secret weapon, her puppy eyes. No one ever said no to them.

"Fine, but be careful. And Samuel, stay close."

The guard nodded and gave the seemingly insane girl an icy glare.

"Come, the castle has enough food so waste some at you," the young princess said kindly and dragged the young thief with her by the hand, something Samuel growled at deep within his chest. Usually the princess was not to be touched by somebody lower than herself, but still the princess was young and couldn't care less about it.

Malin followed the princess in silence, now remembering why she was here in the first place; to spy for the treasure. But at the smell of food she forgot almost everything. Her stomach growled again as they entered the kitchen.

The chef, a short man round as a ball, turned his kind, purple eyes towards the young intruders of his beloved kitchen.

"Your young majesty, how may I serve you today?" he said with a bright smile.

"My greetings chef, this girl…" she turned to her guest in question.

"Malin," the blonde said shyly.

"Malin, is not really healthy because of lack of food. Do you think you can make her something?"

The chef eyed the thief girl with stern yet fair eyes. Malin liked this short man. Though he was short and had his belly hanging over his belt, his eyes were the ones of someone who loved children.

"I have a lot of food to waste at both your majesty and the pretty girl," the chef said thoughtfully.

"We will be waiting in our little dining room, to not disturb anything else," the princess said softly. "I trust you to keep us alive."

The chef chuckled amused at the treasure's little statement. He bowed as deep as his belly would allow and the young princess nodded at him.

Malin was about to follow the princess out when the royal girl stopped and looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Where are your manners?" she asked lowly, almost dangerously. "Here it is never allowed to be rude."

Malin stared confused at her, until she realized what she meant. Quickly she spun around to see the chef stare sternly at her.

"Thank you," Malin said quickly and curtsied deeply for the man. The chef, seemingly satisfied, nodded at her and turned to throw something together, worthy of the princess and her guest.

Following the young princess to the small dining room Malin's eyes widened. What the royal girl had called the _little_ room could easily fit all her caravan's carriages, with horses and all. The roof was high up and suddenly she felt very small.

"I guess my home is way bigger than what you are used to," the princess said sitting down at the table on a high stool to reach for the table.

Malin nodded her head yes and sat down at another stool, as high as the princess's, to continue to stare around her.

The stone castle was made of white sandstone and granite, so even inside the castle it was bright. This room had paintings covering the walls and family shields hanging over the open fireplace. The stone floor was covered with another floor of wood so it wouldn't be too cold to walk on in the morning. At the opposite wall to the fireplace the wall was covered with one huge painting.

"That is my complete family," the princess's soft voice said.

Malin nodded in understanding. She could see a baby princess at the painting, clad in white as was her genuine colour. She was standing in front of the prince, who had a gentle hand on his sister's head while standing beside his father's throne. Standing behind the stern king was a woman in a beautiful, Isabella white and pale orange dress. Her hair was black with golden and crimson stripes in it and her face was an adult version of the princess's, except for her more narrow, amethyst eyes. Malin supposed the woman was the queen, the princess's mother.

To the left beside the king's family was another pair, these old enough to be the king's parents, or the queen's which were more logical. The old man's eyes held the exact same colour as the princess's, and the face was very close to the prince's. The woman resembled a lot of the queen in her way to stand beside her husband and they had the same kind of hands. At the old man's feet sat another girl on her knees with the same coloured hair as the queen, probably her sister.

To the right must be the king's parents and siblings. Even he had a younger sister who shared his pride and sternness in the face. There also was a man a little younger than the girl, the king's little brother. He had that timid look in his face and his pose wasn't as confident. The older couple though was surely the former king and queen. They had that pride in their poses and the roughness in face and hands. Their expressions were unreadable and somehow stiff, as if they had been sitting too long in the same pose. The king at lest had a small smile on his features.

"My grandparents are all gone some time ago. The former queen was ill, and her husband was unable to go on after she passed away. What happened to mother's parents I do not know. Father's sister is married to the king of Wales and uncle killed himself when the girl he was in love with married someone else."

"And your mother? Her sister?" Malin asked carefully.

A sad expression shadowed the young princess's eyes. "Mother was banished… her sister tried to commit the crime mother had failed and I was too late to save her. I was… too late."

A sound from the door and Yuniko's usual, royal pride exchanged the sadness in her eyes.

"I hope this will please her majesty," a young servant said and placed plates of food in front of the two younger girls.

"Tell Solomon I am very grateful," the young treasure said and nodded at the servant to leave.

Once again Malin's eyes widened. At her plate were potatoes, sauce, meat, vegetables and between the princess's plate and her own was a small basket of bread.

The princess read a small prayer as she always did and Malin silently waited for the signal she could dig in.

Yuniko took the first bite, and Malin was soon after. She wasn't used to the fork and knife since she always ate with her hands. But she watched how Yuniko did and tried her best to imitate the movements.

Never in her life had she eaten something this good. The bread was made just this morning and still fresh. But when she was about to drink what the princess served her she stopped. It wasn't water. It was something black but without foam, so it couldn't be beer either. She shot the princess a questioning glance.

"Blackberry juice," Yuniko said softly. "It is really good and it will not kill you. And it is better than water."

A careful sip before the glass was emptied and reached for more. Yuniko laughed at her guest's enthusiasm and filled the glass with the reminder that she had to eat too.

Malin didn't need to be reminded. Her food was soon gone and she sighed blissfully. Yuniko finished her meal in her own pace and dried her face as the princess she was before she handed the cloth to Malin to do the same.

"Do you want to play with me before I walk you back to your family?" Yuniko asked with a smile.

"What about the dishes?"

"The servants will take care of these. Come, I can show you around."

Malin took this as the chance she was waiting for to spy for the treasure. She had no idea Yuniko knew exactly what was going on.

"You know. I can show you my treasure if you want to see it," the princess said and Malin couldn't believe her luck. She nodded her head eagerly in silent agreement and once again followed closely behind the princess, Samuel after like a tail.

Malin was suddenly glad she was well trained. The mess of stairs soon had Samuel panting heavily while the young princess slowly but easily lost the guard. Samuel had no idea of where the princess was heading, but Malin was sure glad he was lost. But almost as the thought passed her mind she remembered she was just as lost.

"No one knows this castle better than me," the princess said calmly. Her breath was normal as if the many stairs was plain ground. "Only brother would find me if I was to hide."

They had to be very high up by now. The princess kept taking the stairs leading upwards. They ended up in a windy spiral to somewhere Malin briefly thought must be the sky.

"This is the highest tower in the entire castle," the young princess said in front of a door looking really heavy. "You have to help me pull it open though. I am not strong enough to do it by myself yet. When I become queen, I will walk up here every day and pull this door open all by myself."

Malin thought it was a small dream for coming from a princess. If she had been one, she would put her goals much higher. But she guessed this girl, this pure princess, did not ask as much from life.

The young thief's heart rate picked up in speed as she and the princess started to pull the heavy door. The feeling of having to betray this girl, who showed her such kindness, such care and warmth, it suddenly stuck her so hard she felt sick.

"Is something wrong, Malin?" the blue eyed girl asked concerned when Malin leaned forward onto the door instead of pulling it.

Discreetly wiping at the tear that had formed in the corner of her eye Malin turned to the princess, shaking her head with a slight smile. And the girls kept pulling the door with all their might until it finally gave in with a heavy sigh and let the small intruders in.

Waiting to see shining gold, silver, jewels, diamonds and everything else that belong in a treasure Malin was dumbfound to find the round room empty. The walls were plain white stone and the floor was dirty from birds' feathers and nests.

Yuniko went to the window and waved for Malin to come over to her. She pointed at the massive land below, wide, green fields filled with animals of different sorts, villages were spotted every here and there between the green hills and forsets, the mighty forest to the left and the sea glistened in a far distance.

"This is my treasure," the princess said with almost motherly pride.

"This… but it is just land," Malin said confused.

"And what is a kingdom without a land and the people living there? I care for my people. I never want them to fear this kingdom or whatever inhabits it. The most important thing a royal have to remember is that whatever you do, you do for the people and not for yourself. Of cause I know about kings not living that way, but it is the way it is supposed to be. As the ruler, my duty is to protect the land from any kind of danger too big to be solved by themselves. That is why I promised my brother to be the strongest queen in history."

"But… is it not your brother who will take over the throne after your father?" Malin asked with wide eyes.

"Brother? He does not even rule the land half as much as I do now. I know everyone says he is the true heir. But seriously, even if he does take over the throne, I will be the queen. He told me himself, and I believe in him."

Malin nodded and once again looked out over the majestic landmass below her. Far, unnerving far below she saw the courtyard and the people running around as very small ants. She could even see her family from here.

"And I guess you will make your sister a little confused when you confess she and you are parts of this kingdom's treasure."

Malin's mind came to a halt. The princess knew? She heard the sweet giggle and turned her round eyes to the princess.

"What? When? How…?"

"I am very sensitive, so I always feel when someone is looking at me. And this morning I saw you and your sister, and how she hit you. From this and her eyes at me I could figure out that you are a spy. And what is there for such a young one to spy for if not the treasure?"

Malin stared, stunned to say at least. The princess maybe was trusting, but she was far from naïve. She was as sharp as the thief king though she was so young.

"Come, let us go back. I still need to talk to my father about something very important, and you have a sister to report to."

Malin nodded, still at loss of words, which the princess just smiled at.

**

* * *

**Mrs. Ishtar was silent from the moment she entered the room. Isis's expression was unreadable, but her hands betrayed her uneasiness. Yami still sat at Yugi's bed and Seto was leaning against the wall. 

"What happened?" Isis asked Lou.

"We don't know yet," Dr Lou answered truthfully. "Ask Mr. Kaiba."

"I don't know either. Malik had a high fever since this morning, but he insisted that he was fine. When the last bell rang we went to the hospital together, and he could hardly walk. He got a drug to force the fever down once we came here. But as we entered this room to see Yugi he started to sway again. I left him to fetch a nurse and when I came back… he was like that."

"I believe them both to be in the same state of dreaming," Dr Lou picked up. "Young Mr. Atemu has been like that since yesterday. I am not sure what it means yet."

Isis nodded but her mother was still, watching her son silently, as if waiting for him to wake up and tell her it was all a joke.

She opened her mouth to talk, but before any sound could leave her throat, Malik's head jerked to the side as from a slap. His breathing picked up in rate and his body jerked violently as if he was beaten. And on top of it bruises appeared on his skin.

"Malik?"

The boy whimpered and brought his arms up as if to protect his head. Lou caught his arms in order to calm him.

"He's very deep into his dream," Dr Lou thought out loud.

Seto didn't know what to do, so he decided to stay by watching, though it hurt to see the other in pain.

"Please stop," the boy whimpered pitifully with a small voice and tears leaked down his cheeks. "Mama, stop."

Glances were shot at Malik's mother who paled and looked sick.

* * *

Malin slowly made it over to the caravan. She was scared out of her mind. She knew she would be beaten. Her sister would beat her for failing. Her grandfather would beat her for being away for so long. Her father would beat her for telling stories and her mother would beat her for spying when she had been given strict orders not to. 

Her hands were wet from sweat. If only she could have stayed with the kind princess and stay safe. She had never been this scared before.

"Malin," her grandfather called, causing the young girl to jump. "Your mother wants to talk to you," was all he said and nodded in the direction his daughter-in-law was waiting.

Malin nodded her head and her trembling got worse. Without a beating from her grandfather the one from her mother would be worse.

Ever so slowly the young girl walked over to where her mother sat with her arms crossed and Mina sitting at the ground beside her, trying not to look satisfied with herself.

"Where have you been?" her mother asked harshly.

"I-in the castle, mother," Malin said though her voice trembled as much as her.

"Why?"

"I-I was-sick and the princess took care of m-me," Malin said, trying with all her might to keep her voice above a whisper.

"You do not look sick to me," her mother said, eyeing her younger daughter with contempt.

"I… the castle's healer c-cured me on the princess's orders. She gave me food and sh-showed me… around the castle."

"Why did she do that?"

Malin swallowed the hard lump forming in her throat before she could answer. "I do not know mother. She did it of her own will. Sh-she seems to l-like me."

"Is this the truth you want me to believe?"

"Yes mother."

Too fast. That last sentence flew out too fast. Her mother slapped her across the face so hard she fell.

"You are one stupid little girl. I can not believe I ever gave birth to you. You are a shame for our family."

"I did nothing wrong. Mina told me to…"

She was forced up and was hit by a hard fist in her chest.

"Do not blame your wrongdoings on Mina. She is more than you will ever be."

"I did just what I was told to," Malin cried, the tears escaping her eyes.

"You were spying, were you not?" her mother hissed with her voice dripping with anger and distrust. "I gave you very strict orders not to. We are not safe here and we will leave soon. Do you want to risk our lives?"

"Sister!" Malin cried in vain. Mina attacked her twin.

"Do not blame your wrongdoings on me," she repeated from what her mother had said.

"Please stop!" Malin whimpered as the woman kept on beating her. "Mama, stop."

Mina gladly joined to beat her sister bloody. Blood had always fascinated her in strange ways.

**

* * *

**

"Sister! Please stop!"

Isis clapped a hand over her open mouth as her brother started to throw up blood. So they were both hurting him in his dream? Both her and her mother?

Yami watched in terror what happened on the other bed. To him it felt unnatural for a mother to hurt her child. Did she not know how precious such a thing was?

Malik was now badly bruised and he bleeding from inside and wounds in his head and body. He kept on crying and pitifully called for his mother and sister to stop hitting him while he fought with Lou.

"Somebody help me!" Malik suddenly cried.

**

* * *

**

Atemu went out to ask the caravan's leader when they planned to leave. His sister had told him the girl wasn't well taken care of and was slightly worried about her wellbeing. His heart skipped a beat out of fear from what he saw when he suddenly spotted the young girl being beaten by someone who was probably her mother and another girl. The younger was lying on the ground crying and was kicked on over and over again. Around them slaves and servants was unsure if they should interrupt or stay out of it.

Atemu's eyes darkened into an almost black colour and he picked up in pace until he was running.

"Somebody help me!" the young girl cried.

**

* * *

**

Unable to watch anymore Yami went over to the other bed.

"Let me take care of this," he said to the doctor who tried to calm him.

With one look at the older Atemu Lou let go of Malik's arms. Yami grabbed the young boy's shoulders gently, using one hand to pull him down and the other to hold the side of his head. He hushed quietly like he always did when Yugi was having bad dreams before.

The younger boy immediately reached out for him and apparently his dream-beating stopped.

Malik tried to draw himself closer to Yami as if the other was his last lifeline, and Yami let him. The younger was panting hard and coughed up some more blood. He just lay there for a moment, panting and bleeding badly.

"Forgive me," Malik whispered between his tears before he fell unconscious.

**

* * *

**

The sound of a loud slap echoed through the area and Malin's mother fell over from the force. Mina immediately drew back behind her mother to keep herself safe. Malin grabbed Atemu's leg, which had stepped in the way of her mother's foot and saved her from the kick, to calm herself, oblivious to who her savoir was.

The woman looked up into Atemu's wide open blazing eyes before she stood up.

"Do you not know it is impolite to interrupt in others business?" she asked harshly as a bruise coloured her cheek in red.

"You are the one who do not know when enough is enough," Atemu spat back. Too bad for the family they didn't know Atemu was the prince.

"What is happening here?" the caravan's leader asked and towered over Atemu in challenge.

"Darling, this man was interrupting as I thought my daughter a lesson to obey," the twins' mother said with complaining in her sickening voice.

The man glared down at the shorter prince but failed to notice the red spot between his eyebrows. The spot that marked the heir to the throne. He was so caught with his enemy's icily blue eyes that he didn't notice the guards that were closing in.

"Our business has nothing to do with you," the older man treated.

"Bad news: it has," Atemu said lowly and narrowed his dark eyes.

"It is our daughter and we are free to treat her at will," the man said as a matter of fact.

"Not as long as my heart beat and I can breath. Not under my roof."

In anger the man raised his hand to slap the teen in front of him, but a dozen of swords were suddenly aimed at him and his wife.

"You are lucky I am not the princess," Atemu said, his voice steady and cold. "If I was, the dogs and Guardian would have killed you all before you had time to react. As it is now you are safe from them. But from my wrath you are not. To treat a child as you do is against the rules of my kingdom."

The prince's eyes caught a movement and moved his gaze upon the girl who tried to escape. A glance at one of the guards, back to the girl and Malin's sister was captured roughly by the neck.

"Leave my daughter alone," the woman yelled and tried to move towards her, but was stopped by another three blades aiming for her unprotected throat.

"I see," Atemu sighed. "You favour that girl over her sister. I guess that is why you let her help to beat her up."

"Who do you think you are?" Malin's father asked with a voice that was realizing something too late.

"My name is Atemu, I am the heir of the throne," the prince said coolly. "Take them away. This whole caravan will now deal with my father, the king, for beating a child too hard and threatening me."

Under screaming protests the guards captured everyone who belonged to the caravan, everyone but one.

Atemu held the badly beaten Malin in his gentle arms. Of cause he knew there were families that beat their children, though it seemed inhuman to him, but never like this. The girl was hardly even alive.

Malin was still trembling and clung onto Atemu as if he was all that kept her alive. Slowly she looked up through her tears into his now warm eyes.

"Forgive me," she whispered, believing she had betrayed everyone, before she fell unconscious.

**

* * *

**

Yami stroke Malik's hair in a calming gesture and laid him comfortably on the bed with used hand before he moved his intense glare at the boy's family. He watched them, waiting for an explanation of why they hadn't tried to do anything.

"You handed that very well Mr. Atemu," Dr Lou said in slight aw.

"It comes with being an older brother…" Yugi's brother said, not taking his eyes from Isis, who looked at the floor in shame. "Or at least I thought so."

"I've never…" Isis started, but rejected.

"Hurt him?" Seto ended her sentence.

"Never like that," Isis said quietly.

"Malik mentioned you once when he was in my house," Yami said, making Malik's mother look up at him. "He mumbled something that sounded like, 'I wish my sister was so gentle'."

"So you're one of those friends Malik thought he had befriended?"

Yami's eyes narrowed at the woman.

"Malik was grouped up with me, Yugi and Ryou for a school project," Seto said, his voice as cold as his eyes.

Yami nodded to his brother on the other bed to answer the two women's questioning glances.

"We invited him for sleepovers because of the work. I admit I don't know him that much, yet I call him my friend."

"What're all these people doing in here?" asked a voice from the door.

"Bakura…" Yami acknowledged. "You look like hell."

"Thanks for noticing asshole."

Bakura actually looked like he had been awake for a week without food. His eyes had sunken in and was gazed over with weariness. His cloths were disorganized and his face was pale as death.

"What happened to you?" Seto asked.

Bakura made a face and leaned to the doorframe. "It seemed like everything that happened suddenly hit in the moment we came home. Ryou cried the whole fucking night. He even blames himself for what has happened."

"Just how much does Yugi mean to him?" Seto asked.

Yami and Bakura both shrugged their shoulders.

"They've just had each other and us ever since kindergarten," Bakura said with a sigh. "Ryou adores Yugi."

"They mean a lot to each other. You can say they are much like brothers, twins," Yami said with a gentle smile at the thought.

"You're by the wrong bed. As far as I can see that's not your brother. Why's Malik on that bed?"

Bakura's question brought the thoughts back to what had just happened. Seto explained once again what had happened and added what had just happened.

"Does that mean that they are dreaming the same dream?" Bakura asked.

Glances were exchanged before they landed on Lou, who shook his head in thought.

"It's physically impossible," the doc said lowly. "And it doesn't make any sense. They are two beings with totally different backgrounds and way of thinking. For them to dream the same dream… impossible."

Bakura was about to ask something more when Yami's cell phone suddenly rang.

"Mother," Yami mumbled, knowing the signal. "What?" he answered tonelessly.

"_Yami, where are you? Oh, it doesn't matter. Wherever you are you'll go home right now and make your mother and her lover a romantic dinner. Let Yugi do the sauce though, you're terrible at it. And make just two potions since I don't want you two to interrupt. I was thinking of having chicken so tell Yugi to make a good curry sauce. Oh, be a dear and cook some rice too will you. When I'm talking anyway, can you please scold Yugi from me for not having his cell phone on? I believe that's all. I hope you remember it all, but you always did before so I trust you with this. See you tonight dear."_

"Mo…" but it was too late. Mrs. Atemu had already hung up, never having time to listen to her son. She never did anymore.

Yami's eyes darkened with a hatred so strong everyone backed away from him.

"Mother wants me to go home and make her and her new lover a romantic dinner," Yami almost spat as explanation to the questioning glances. "Too bad Yugi isn't in state to cook anything so she just has to take my sauce."

Turning back to his brother Yami kissed him lightly on the forehead and stroked his soft hair in the progress.

Bakura moved from the door when Yami walked past him.

"So you're leaving him just like that?" he asked dangerously low.

"Trust me when I say I don't want to, freak," Yami returned glaring over his shoulder. "But mom never came home last night and doesn't know what happened to Yugi. The least I can do is telling her, what she decides to do then… I wish I could put more trust in her, but as it is I can't."

Bakura nodded, still don't liking the idea of Yami leaving Yugi just because his mother called. If it was he, he would refuse. Though his parents wasn't alive and relatives all sent them money to live on their own just to have them living anywhere but with them, still he would never leave Ryou even if his life depended on it. But then again, he had never really met Yugi's and Yami's mother.

"That's right," Dr Lou said after some thought and turned to the Ishtar girls. "I need a blood test from you two and to fill a formula."

* * *

Atemu held his sister close as they watched Lisa do her best with the injured girl. He could feel her tremble slightly under his touch and stroked her silky hair in a calming gesture. Never had he thought of a mother hurting her own child so badly. If the king had ever lifted as much as a nail toward the princess Atemu would never forgive him. But to almost kill the own child… it was inhuman. 

"Brother… why is she so hurt?" Yuniko asked after a long moment.

Atemu just shook his head and hugged her closer to his chest. He wiped away the tears that slowly fell down the princess's rosy cheeks. He knew some girls were beautiful when they cried, Yuniko surely was among them, but it broke his heart every time she did.

Finally Lisa looked up from her patient with an unreadable expression on her old face.

"How is she?" Atemu asked gently.

The old lady looked at him with concern and worry in her kind eyes.

"I do not know, but I pray to God to let her live. Such a young life does not deserve this pain," she said stroking the young one's hair gently.

"Father is taking care of her family right now," Atemu said as he stood. "I should be there as well. I trust you to take care of the young one as well as my sister."

Atemu placed his younger sister on the chair and kissed her softly on the forehead.

"Please do not cry anymore," he pleaded her. "You are not the one responsible for this."

Yuniko nodded and Atemu smiled weakly at her. With a last kiss on her cheek the prince left the room.

The young princess walked over to the bed and looked worriedly from Lisa to Malin.

"I do not know, my beloved star," Lisa said thought it pained her more than anything to make the treasure miserable "I do not know."

Yuniko looked down at her shoes for a moment, before she climbed upon the bed. As she sat beside the thief girl, Malin started to stir.

Lisa watched on closely what happened between the two girls.

Malik's head moved to the side and he groaned in pain. Dr Lou, Isis and Mrs. Ishtar immediately paid full attention to him. Seto and Bakura had returned home just a few minutes ago.

"He's waking up," Lou whispered, but no one moved.

Malik turned his eyes toward Yugi who, to Lou's great surprise, had his bright eyes open, looking straight at Malik.

The Egyptian boy reached out a hand to the other.

"Princess," he whispered.

When Yugi blinked and smiled the bracelet that adorned Malik's wrist fell off. It was a nice bracelet, made of gold and had names carved on the inside. It was an old family treasure that proved Malik was from this special bloodline. It silently slid off his hand and onto the floor. As if to signal that he was not another one in line anymore. Not being the one he was before.

"Princess," Malin whispered and reached her hand out to touch that warm, smiling face.

Yuniko took the hand and removed the thick bracelet that adorned her thin wrist.

"I saw this on your sister's arm as well. I believe this is what bounds you to them, is it not?"

Malin slowly nodded her head. Yuniko handed the golden bond to Lisa, who took it with a slight nod.

"Destroy it," Yuniko said.

Malin watched with anxiousness how the old lady placed her family treasure in a stone bowl and dropped another, round stone right on it so it broke. As the metal fell apart, Malin felt it as if a heavy boulder lifted from her chest. She was free from everything her family was.

* * *

**IMPORTANT UPDATE NOTE!**

If nothing else happens I shall update every month from now on, just to get this over with. If you are good reviewers I will continue all the way to the end. But if I get no reviews there will be no more story for you. See ya next month.


	7. The punishment and discovery

Another chappie finally updated in the middle of the month Haha. Be glad I remembered it, right before I was about to log off I remembered I hadn't updated this yet.

Oh, and to not confuse you further than I've already done (and will continue with) The past affects the future and its humans. Explanation: What happens in Yugi and Malik's _dreams_ also affects what happens in the real world. -Sigh- If you don't know what I mean then just forget it. I've always been extreamly bad in explaning myself.

**The usual disclaimer: **If I owned YuGiOh! no one would read it, for it would never be created. I would never have been able to think up the game of duel monsters, dungeon dice and so on. SO I just came up with this plot to try to compare with the mighty hero who created YuGiOh! Let's love him!

* * *

**The punishment and discovery**

Yami didn't put any care in his cooking this night. He was annoyed and still couldn't get that heavy stone of guilt fall from its place in his stomach. The chicken was burnt and over spiced, but like he cared. It was not he who would eat it. The sauce was even more a disaster than the rest. Compared to Yami Yugi was a god of sauces, so he always made then, meaning Yami had never cooked sauce in a very long time and didn't know how to do. But still, he couldn't care less.

The door opened and he heard his mother's voice along with another, deep voice of a man he didn't know. And once again… he didn't care.

"Good evening dear," his mother greeted him as he went out to them in the hall. "I hope you and your brother made a good dinner for us."

It was not a question.

"Not really dear mother," Yami said with a mock smile, receiving a hard glare from his mother. "Yugi isn't really in the state to cook. Actually, he's not in the state to do anything since he's at the hospital unconscious since yesterday. The doctor doesn't know what's wrong with him or how to cure him. In other words, I made the sauce." The mock smile disappeared and was replaced with an icily death glare. "Have a nice time."

Turning sharply on his heel Yami went upstairs to his room. Behind him he left a stunned mother and her even more stunned lover. But in the mother's mind one thing was put before the other matter.

Kanaka Atemu went to the kitchen to see what disaster was there, but found that it was mainly clean and the food was on the table.

"I believe it's safe to eat. Just don't even try the sauce," Kanaka told her new lover. "Yami is terrible at it."

Upstairs Yami paced around in anger. Tears leaked down his pale cheeks and he knew his mother wouldn't care too much about Yugi when she had her hands full of another man.

How he hated this. How he hated his mother for abandoning them both, Yugi most of it. There was no way he could take all this at once. Right now he needed comfort, and he knew of no one to do it. None of his friends had ever been in his situation. They all had parents who loved them deeply. How could they comfort when they new nothing?

Spinning around his eyes landed on the black book he had found on his pillow, the one where the drawing of his brother in drag was printed.

Throwing himself on the bed he flipped up a random page and started reading, anything to comfort himself.

_I am scared. This has gone too far out of control. I can not control myself anymore. Jealousy rushes through me whenever I see him. I know I should not hate him. It is not mine to judge him. Yet, I want to kill him. I want to turn him into one of us. I want to drag something dirty out of him and turn my sister's trust against him._

_I know just one thing of him. He is a coward. I have faced him once and he instantly started to call for help. I can not believe my sister ever accepted him as her fiancé. He can not even compare to her. I wish someone who was more had come instead of this idiot. _

_I hate him. I hate him and his son. Yet, I would appreciate if this man gave my sister's hand to his son. He is old. Why would he wish to marry my young sister, my princess?_

_Aku has to calm me down all the time whenever sun is rising. If I was ever to accept anyone as my sister's fiancé, it would be him. He is not pure, not innocent, and he could easily destroy my princess's innocence, but he would defend her whenever she would need it and accept her to cry. And I know. I know Aku is in love with my sister. He was the one who turned me into this, and he was the one who caught her tears when they fell. At that moment I know I hated him more than anything else ever. But now, when I have seen so much more of his kind, and watched how other men act around women, I no longer hold any grudge against him. At that moment he had said he needed to touch her because of her innocence. And now, when I have lived for so long without getting to touch my sister, I know what he meant. I can see he is hurt by my sister's engagement. Yet he is more saddened than angry. He told me he knew he could never own my princess's love, and therefore accepted his defeat. But I can not._

_Princess. My beautiful, beautiful sister. Have you gone blind? Will you never see? What is going on behind the walls you build up behind your eyes? But whatever happens I wish I knew if you remembered my promise. If you took it to your heart every time I said it to you. _

_I love you._

Yami jerked startled when the phone rang. First he relaxed back on his pillow, but then went up, knowing his mother awaited the service of him taking it.

"Yami," he answered once he lifted the phone.

"_Mr. Atemu? This is Dr Lou from the hospital,"_ said the now familiar voice on the other line.

"Doctor? What is it? How is he?"

"_Calm down. Nothing serious has happened since you left but…"_

"Nothing serious? Then something has happened?" Yami asked without realizing he raised his voice a little.

"_Yugi opened his eyes for a short moment, but he never woke up as I believed he did. My guessing is that he floats from deeper to lighter states in his dream and it is possible he will be up walking in his sleep with wide open eyes."_

"But?" Yami encouraged, wanting the doc to get to the point already.

"_But that was not why I called,"_ Lou said and sounded oddly uncomfortable.

"Go on, what is it?" Yami said, a frown appearing on his face. Something definitely didn't feel right.

"_I'm just done with the tenth checking of your blood tests. And there is more than one strange thing in Yugi's blood that should be in yours as well, if you or he isn't adopted that is."_

"Adopted?" Yami half yelled, unwillingly attracting his mother's attention. "Of cause not! Why ask such a question. You just said yourself you checked our blood."

"_I did, and I found out things I should not know as well. But most importantly; Yugi… is not your brother."_

Yami's mind came to a halt. His voice died, he stopped breathing and his eyes turned blind for a second.

_**Yugi is not your brother.**_

It echoed through his head over and over again and a lump appeared in his throat. Suddenly he found his voice again.

"**MOM!"** he yelled with the top of his lungs, not knowing she was standing right behind him, and once he noticed he didn't care. "Are Yugi adopted? Is it me who is? Why is Yugi not my brother?" he yelled right into her face, pointing at her with the phone.

"What are you talking about? Of cause Yugi is your brother. I myself gave birth to both of you."

Yami more or less smashed the phone to her ear and grabbed her head to keep it there. "Say that again to Dr Lou and see if you're as certain afterwards," he yelled at her.

"Calm down you bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing?" the other man half yelled at him and was about to force him off of the shocked woman.

"**STAY OUT OF THIS! AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL ME A BASTARD YOU FUCKED UP BASTARD!"** Yami screamed. He had tears of frustration in his eyes and all the yelling didn't really help. He took his mother's hand and held it painfully hard. "You're coming with me to the hospital right now to check on Yugi, either you like it or not," he shouted and smashed the phone back on.

* * *

On the other line Lou sighed and shook his head. 'He never let me end the sentense,' he thought heavily. 

He got up and went to the room where Yugi and Malik were resting and sat by Yugi's bed.

"I never thought it would come down to this, my dear princess. The game have started over once again. I could never believe you and your beloved brother would end up as siblings once again. Was his love towards you really that strong he held on to you even after his death, after your death? What will you do? Will you be able to change the past with the little part of your soul that has returned to Scotland after hearing your name? Or will you once again end up killed by your own brother's hand?"

Of cause there were no response, but the doctor kept on talking to the supposed sleeping form.

"Will you ever stop being a mystery to everyone around you? Not even your brother, the only one you entrusted with your tears, knew everything, did he? Do you not think I noticed, my little princess? You were the ruler of your kingdom even before your beautiful mother was banished. You never allowed yourself to be weak in your people's eyes. Anyone, even Atemu, acknowledged your strength. But why? Why did you refuse to trust anyone to keep you standing tall?"

Lou looked out of the window at the thickening darkness of night outside.

"Your brother will arrive soon. Though I wish he could take your mother with him."

He let his big hand caress the boy's cheek in a loving gesture.

"You are as beautiful as ever, beloved princess of Scotland."

* * *

They stood in front of a very serious and very angry king. Mina tried to hide in the middle of everyone to stay safe, but she also desperately wanted to see the beautiful prince who sat silently on his throne beside the king's. 

"To tell you all the truth I could tell from the very beginning I could not trust you," the king said dangerously low. "I waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Not more than that my daughter took care of one of your ill children."

The king shook his head and the wrinkle between his eyes grew deeper.

"We wanted nothing but to stay the night, your majesty," Mina's father said carefully.

"Silence, you can talk when I tell you to," the king spat at him, but then took a deep breath. "My daughter may look innocent, but she is sharper than a thief. No one can fool her and I know she knows what you really are. All I have to do is ask her and if my guess is correct…" he glanced at Atemu. "My son will decide your fate. He was the one to witness what happened today."

A guard cleared his throat to get attention. "The princess wishes to enter, your majesty."

"Call her in," the king said calmly.

A very serious princess entered the throne room slowly. In her hands she held a cloth which scrambled a little, as if filled with metal. She said nothing and didn't look up. Atemu stood at her unusual expression.

Standing in front of the group of thieves Yuniko threw the cloth at their feet so it revealed the pieces of the bracelet.

"You can take it back. Malin is no longer your possession," the young princess said as she raised her head to look at them with blaming blue eyes. "Our healer Lisa says she will live, but only because my brother saved her in time," she continued, looking from one to another, daring them to look into her eyes.

"Princess Yuniko," the king addressed his daughter, but she didn't turn to him. "Do you know why these people came here?"

"I promised Malin not to tell," the princess said, closing her eyes.

"So she told you?" Mina hissed and came out from her hideout behind her mother's skirt. "I always knew that rat for a spy was worthless."

Yuniko opened her eyes and glared calmly at the girl. "She never said a word, but what she has said and what she has not said does not matter anymore . You just gave yourself away after all."

Silence followed her words and Yuniko turned back to her father and brother. Nothing could save them now, not when they didn't have her protection.

"What do you believe is the best to do with them?" her father said, suppressing his anger.

Yuniko curtsied. "You are the king, father. It is not mine to decide what you do with people like them. They have a lot to be punished for indeed."

And with that she left the throne room behind, knowing what fate they were to see. She returned to the room where Malin was still resting.

"I believe your dear father is not pleased," Lisa said without looking up from the herbs she needed to prepare tea to the weak girl.

"Since when is my father ever pleased?" the small princess asked with sadness in her sweet voice. Then she sat beside Malin at the bed.

"Princess?" Malin whimpered in her sleep.

"I am right here," Yuniko whispered taking Malin's hand thus calming her immediately. "There is no need to be afraid anymore. I will take care of you."

A smile graced Malin's features and she fell back into a peaceful slumber, holding onto the princess's hand.

* * *

It was so late that no one was left at the hospital. Yami, Kanaka and her lover as well sat in the doctor's room. Or more precisely; Kanaka and her lover sat while Yami paced back and forth in frustration. 

"This is insane," Kanaka's lover said for at least the sixth time since they arrived.

"What do you mean… my son is not mine?" Kanaka asked lowly with her heart in her throat. She was a mother after all, and a mother's love doesn't die just like that. But ever since her husband passed away they just reminded her of the love she had forever lost. But she didn't want to lose them for anything in the world.

"I have checked up the boy's history since the day he was born and found out that he indeed is your son, but according to his blood he is not," Lou said with a wrinkle between his eyes.

"But how can that be?" Yami asked lowly.

Lou took a look at his notes once again and wasn't sure of how to answer.

"There is a lot of strangeness with the boy. His body is built differently from a normal human and his skeleton has a different form as well… and his blood. It is a mystery how he can be alive with all that in his blood."

"What?" Yami voiced quietly. "What is it with his blood?"

Lou shook his head with a worried look. "I can not tell as long as someone from outside the family is in here. You can tell him afterwards if you believe in him that much, but I have to follow the rules and not let you hear, sir," he said turned to Kanaka's lover.

First the man wanted to protest, but with a glare from Kanaka he left the room.

"Now please tell me. What is it with my son?"

"His blood…" Lou started lowly, glancing at the door suspiciously. "His blood is mixed with 100 percent real…" he leaned closer to the woman and Yami leaned in as well to hear the quiet whisper. "…Liquid diamonds."


	8. Evil from north

I've realized I've made a terrible mistake. Yuniko lives in the seventeenth century, but in the Ryouko's dairy I have written 1400. I am so sorry for this and I shall soon change these little mistakes and hope you'll all forgive me (I'd do it right now if the com I sit on would let me open the damn file).

Now, with no more to apolpgize for I leave you in the hands of my story -- (just don't forget to tell me what you think of it afterwards. It's no fun writing this without encoragement.)

* * *

**Evil from north**

Malin slowly healed and was able to walk again after about fifteen days. Yuniko was with her most of the time and kept her company. Atemu watched over the two with concern for the princess and her new friend.

Malin's complete family had been beheaded, one after one, with Mina last. First the prince had been unsure to kill the small girl, but after her behaviour and her cowardice he let her die the same death as the others. She had cried and begged him for mercy, but there was never any to gain anyway and the young girl lost her head crying.

Malin never asked where her family had gone to. Either she didn't want to know what had happened with them, or she thought they had left without her.

Once Malin was healed enough to walk she asked the other to share room with her. Malin instantly agreed, but she didn't want to sleep in an own bed. Atemu didn't say anything. The girls were young and he guessed Malin still had nightmares, and Yuniko had the specialty to make such go away.

"Princess," Malin said one night when the girls had gone to sleep.

"What is it?" Yuniko asked calmly.

"Will… can I stay with you always?"

The princess could see the fear and uncertainness in the other's eyes through the darkness. She remembered how she had asked almost the same question to her brother not too long ago.

"Of cause you can. Stay as long as you wish for and longer. I always wish to have you by my side."

Malin snuggled closer and rested her head on the treasure's chest. The former thief girl could hear the safe beating of the pure heart in there.

"Then I will stay with you always," she said right before she fell asleep.

* * *

In the middle of the night Yuniko jerked awake. There it was again, that feeling of wrongness. But it was far stronger this time.

Slowly, careful not to wake Malin up, she left the bed and walked over to her wide window to look outside. The sky was bright from the light of the full moon and the sparkling stars. Nothing looked out of place. She was about to leave her room when she felt eyes on her.

Determined to find out what was wrong Yuniko opened the window wide and let the night air in. It was cold, too cold even for the early season of spring. It felt like winter was coming once again.

Suddenly she locked eyes with him. A male being on the roof right in front of her room was watching her with interest. Not curiosity, but almost businesslike interest. All she could see was his midnight blue, sparkling eyes. But soon they were gone and the feeling of wrongness faded away.

"What is going on?" the princess whispered into the now almost warm night air.

* * *

Yami was totally out of it the next day in school. Jono tried absolutely everything, except dancing around naked in the middle of class. Duke, a friend from another class tried to take Yami back to the world with an extra spiced cookie, but he hadn't even noticed it since his mind was obviously not in his head. Jono's younger sister Shizuka tried to make him react my kissing his cheek, but he just looked at her for a second before he patted her head.

"Listen up class," Mr. Scot said when they all sat down to begin the history lesson. "Tomorrow there will be a new student in your class. Her name is Mazaki Anzu and I hope you will all welcome her politely. Mr. Atemu, You're responsible for her the closest days."

"Huh?"

Mr. Scot looked at the confused teen over his half-moon shaped glasses. He was a stern teacher, but he was also very fair. But now his eyes narrowed at Yami.

"Did you not hear what I said?" he asked as he looked straight into those dull purple eyes.

"Eh… what did you say?"

Jono mentally hit his forehead. Yami used to be the one who paid most attention on this class. He was _really_ out of it.

"I said you will stay here after class and after school since you have detention for not paying attention," Scot said sternly.

"Oh," Yami nodded and his eyes went out of focus once again.

His student's far off look concerned Mr. Scot big time. But he wouldn't press it until after class.

When class was over and everyone packed up to leave Yami did the same, already forgotten that he had detention.

"Mr. Atemu," a voice said and Yami suddenly jerked out of his zoned out state. He turned to face his very serious teacher.

"Huh? Is something wrong Mr. Scot?" he asked stupidly.

Scot narrowed his eyes and Yami just blinked.

"You were to stay here after class, remember?"

Yami blinked again. "Huh? Why? When did you say that? Has… has something happened?"

The suspicion in Scot's eyes melted into concern. "I told you when this class started. And the last question is mine to ask. You have been totally out today. To be you it is a really unusual fact."

Yami nodded and went to sit down in front of his teacher. His teacher didn't know what had happened to Yugi. "I'm just… My brother is at the hospital for reasons unknown. He's… Dr Lou says he is in a state of dreaming, but he won't wake up."

Scot nodded at him to go on.

"Yugi means… everything to me, but yesterday the doc called and said that… Yugi is not my brother."

Yami fell silent and thought back at the night before once more, as he had done all day. But however many times he replayed the conversation they had had with Lou, it still didn't make any sense.

"Lou said that he had checked Yugi's and my blood many times with the same result. I don't know what to think anymore. He also said that Yugi's body is… not defect, but strange. He showed us the X-rays and brought others to compare. Yugi has never been at a hospital before, so his skeleton hasn't been discovered till now. Lou doesn't know if he has some disease in his bones but… nothing with Yugi's body is what it should be."

"You took a lifetime to discover that," Scot said quietly, making Yami stare wide-eyed at him. "You have not seen it, have you? I noticed, especially during P E, Yugi's way to move and his reflexes is indeed unusual, but you will never notice if you do not look. Have you not seen it when he winds his body? He is flexible like nothing I've ever seen, but that is not all. He can move his back in a way that is not possible. Are you sure you have never noticed such an obvious fact such as this?"

Yami opened and closed his moth, stunned. Of cause he had noticed that Yugi could move and twist his body strangely, but everyone thought it was because he was unusually agile. Of cause he had noticed Yugi's elegance when he walked and moved. Was that really so important in this issue?

"Your brother is special," Scot said and nodded at his own statement. "Be sure to take care of him. Go home now."

Yami just nodded and walked out, now with the new information buzzing in his head like a nest of bees.

Scot sat still in his chair, staring after Yami's back.

"I know you have noticed, my prince," he mumbled to the empty chair where Yami had been just moments ago. "But now, just as then, you close your eyes to what you do not want to see, do you not? You must open your eyes. There is no other way to see what is happening, and what has happened."

Scot closed his eyes with a deep wrinkle between his eyes. "Look at her for real. Why are you closing your eyes at the sight of her?"

* * *

Atemu sat on his throne, resting his head on his fist with his eyes closed in thought. Yuniko had talked to him and his father two days ago about something that was wrong. She hadn't been able to tell them what, but she had been truly concerned. She told them that first time she felt it was in the northern forest three weeks ago. That time she hadn't had time to tell them, and with Malin there the princess's attention had been focused on her. But two days ago she had felt it again.

"Your majesty?"

Atemu opened his eyes at the voice. "Father Scot," he acknowledged and stood. "I am glad you answered my call."

"Of cause. His majesty said it is a very serious matter."

Atemu nodded in gratefulness. Father Scot was a priest and one of his most loyal friends. He wasn't an old, boring storyteller scolding children. He was only in his middle ages with strawberry blond hair and playful eyes, dressed in the higher ranked priests' traditional robes.

"My sister has told me there is something wrong, but she can not tell what. I believed you knew anything about it, father."

A wrinkle appeared between the priest's eyes in a worried expression. He nodded slowly.

"I have, but not so strong it has concerned me. I can not decide from where it comes either."

Atemu shook his head in disappointment. He had really hoped Scot could help him. "Sister said it comes from north, maybe even beyond the woods and outside our kingdom's lines. The land beyond ours is unknown after all."

"And for a very good reason, your majesty," Scot said seriously. "According to the ancient scripts the land north of yours are the land of the undead. My great grandfather tried to travel there, but when he came back he said nothing about it. After his death I found his dairy where he wrote about the darkness and a castle watching over it from a cliff. My great grandfather was not the man to imagine things. Neither was he a man to cover such a thing to the royal family if not for very good reasons."

Atemu frowned in concern. "Do you know what kind of creatures inhabits the north land, father?"

"No, your majesty. There is nothing that unseals that mystery. I will once again search though the holy library for answers. Be patient my prince. Your beloved sister will warn you if this strangeness repeats itself."

"Thank you father. You may go."

Scot nodded and bowed before he left the castle. He was greatly concerned about this new matter. He hadn't lied to the prince, but he hadn't told him about the real reason for his concern either. The princess should know nothing of the north lands, not the prince either for that matter. The king himself had ordered that right before Atemu was born.

But the prince couldn't feel the aura of evil that was awakening in the north. That the princess could was very unnerving. It could mean she was in great danger.

* * *

Yuniko's sleep was disturbed by dreams that night. She tossed restlessly in her bed and whimpered every once in a while. She saw eyes and strange shadows. They were filled with evil, something the pure princess couldn't stand to look at. But one pair of eyes was the same from the night she had awoken from the strangeness in the air, something she now knew was evil. She hadn't felt it before, so to her it was strange and most of all hostile. Those eyes looked about ready to swallow her whole.

She didn't know what awoke her when her eyes finally snapped open. She lay on her back with Malin not too far away. The former spy really was a heavy sleeper.

But when she sighed and relaxed, she felt it again. The evil, it was close, far too close.

Careful not to wake the other girl up Yuniko left the bed and dressed in a plain white dress and went outside.

"Princess?" the guard outside her door whispered in question. "You should not be outside at this time of night."

"Please stay here and see to Malin," the princess prayed. "Something is wrong and I have to talk to my brother."

Yuniko used her sad and worried puppy eyes and the guard had no choice but to obey the plea.

Once she was sure the guard wouldn't follow her, the princess took off running toward her brother's chamber the fastest she could. The closer she came the stronger the feeling of wrongness grew, and she didn't like it one bit.

The guard outside Atemu's door grabbed his sword when he heard the running footsteps coming his way. When the young princess appeared in the rays of moonlight that shone through the high windows he let go of his weapon once again, a frown on his face at the scared expression on the treasure's features. It didn't suit her.

"Open the door," she called loudly, making the sound of her scared voice echo throughout the hallway.

The guard was sure Atemu would be out of the door the same second the words left the princess's mouth, but nothing happened. He tried to open the supposed unlocked door, but it wouldn't move.

"Open the door!" Yuniko cried again as she closed the last distance between her and the guard.

Sounds were heard from the inside of Atemu's locked door, but they weren't the sounds that should be there. Yuniko started to push at the door with all her might.

"Brother! Brother, open the door! Please!" she yelled and the guard tried to help her push the door open.

Her voice and awoken a lot of people who lived in this part of the castle and doors all along the moonlit corridor was opened. The desperate cries also attracted the attention of many guards.

"Stay back, my princess," Samuel said and pushed her away from the door. He and two more guards started to throw themselves at the door to force it open.

Yuniko desperately wanted to help but was held back by one of the men from the council. She held his hand to support herself and jumped up and down from anxiousness.

**"OPEN THE DOOR!"** she yelled with the top of her lungs and the door flew open from a forceful blow of the three guards and they themselves fell in clumsily.

Yuniko was already released from the old man and ran over the guards to look for her brother.

The room was a disaster zone. The bed was broken and the sheets ripped and tainted with blood. Claw marks was visible on the walls and everything else. The window was wide open and the thin curtains flattered in the cold night breeze.

The princess was at the window before anyone could stop her. She would have fallen from her own speed, hadn't a quick guard caught her. But he missed what Yuniko saw.

Above her she saw the shadow of a man with huge, batlike wings. His eyes locked with hers for a brief second and the young princess lost herself in those bottomless blue wells that were the man's eyes. But as she almost fell and the guard caught her she also saw the limp body the man carried with him. She recognized the form of her beloved brother's body and instantly guessed what had happened. The being silently took off to the endless sky.

"Brother," Yuniko called into the night after the creature. **"BROTHER!" **

The guard holding her suddenly let go and another, more familiar pair of arms held her back.

An inhuman, high-pitch scream made everyone inside shiver. Yuniko could hear words in the scream, but couldn't make them out. She saw the shadow of the being, almost invisible against the black sky, hit his wings down hard in anger before she turned around to the owner of the arms that held her.

"Brother?"

"It is okay sister," Atemu said and hugged her to his chest. "I used magic to transport myself back here."

Magic. It was a dangerous tool. Only the people of royalty knew how to use it correctly, but they had big respect for its untamed force and just used it in emergencies.

"You are bleeding," Yuniko said and pushed away. "We have to take you to Lisa."

The young princess took her brother's hand and started to pull him with her through the crowd and out the door. They met Lisa right outside. She looked as scared and anxious as the princess, and the prince had no choice but to follow the two females to Lisa's healing room.

* * *

Kanaka had broken up with her lover. Right now that wasn't what she needed. Yami hadn't eaten when they came home, just locked himself up in his room and refused to come out. At least that was what she guessed. She hadn't tried to talk to him. It was times like these she missed her husband the most. How could she not. _He_ had been the one her two sons looked up to and taken care of them. She had always been the one standing at the side when the three of them played together. She had no hand with children after all.

"Please come back to me," she whispered where she sat at the kitchen table. "I can't make this on my own, I need your help."

She didn't notice when she fell asleep.

_She was lying on a field in mid spring. In a distance she could see a white castle and a golden eagle floating not too far over her. _

_She stood at the sound of a horse nearing and turned to the sound. What she saw made her stunned. It was Yugi! Just… not Yugi. _

_The rider closed the distance between them and the two on the horseback looked down at her. _

_"I know you," Yugi said with a female voice. "You are the one who gave birth to me." _

_"She is your birth mother?" the other girl said, one with bronze coloured skin and milky blonde hair, dressed in a pair of Isabella white pants, purple tunic and grey cloak. _

_Yugi nodded and jumped down from the horseback. She could just stare at her supposed son. He was dressed in boots, loose white pants, blue tunic and deep blue cloak and the long, wavy hair pulled back in a low ponytail. But it was no boy who stood in front of her. It was a girl who looked not older than 13 years. _

_"What are you doing here? You have no place in my kingdom," Yugi said calmly. _

_"Y-Yugi… what do you mean? I'm your mother, of cause I have a place in your life." _

_Yugi closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again they were death serious. _

_"Kanaka, can you not see what I am? I am the princess of this land. You are the one who gave birth to me, yet you are not my real mother. Can you not see? This world is not meant for you." _

_She stared at the girl in front of her. She was a splitting image of Yugi, and by her talk it was someone alike Yugi. But this girl had a royalty in her way to move and talk. Yet, this was the one she gave birth to. _

_Another horse approached and the princess turned to the other rider. It was another very young man with blond hair and dark, blue eyes. He looked about fifteen years old. _

_"Princess, you should not be here. His majesty would be furious if he knew I let you this close to the northern woods." _

_"I know Kay. I just had to tell this woman off. After all, she is not part." _

_She stared at her supposed son. The princess elegantly sat on the horse again and moved it up her friend's side. _

_"Shall we go?" _

_Kay looked down at the woman with a suspicious frown before he nodded. The princess started off towards the castle, but Kay hesitated. _

_"Stay away from her," he said with a cold look at Kanaka. "I do not know who you are, but if you are to harm our beloved princess, I will never stop hunting you." _

_The man rode off after the two girls, leaving her with her tears. _

With a gasp Kanaka lifted her head from the table.

'It was a dream? No, it couldn't be. But... if it wasn't, then… what did it mean? Yugi… did you and I dream the same dream for a moment? Did you bring me into your dream to tell me… I am… not…'

She couldn't finish the thought. She was proud to be Yugi's and Yami's mother. She was proud that she had been able to give birth to two children when the doctor had once said she could never have children of her own.

'Is this some kind of punishment from you? Do you want to punish me for… being a worthless mother?'

Hiccups stopped her train of thought and tears dropped down at the table in heavy drops.

In Yami's room he heard the sound of someone crying. First he ignored it, thinking it was his own mind crying out loud at him. But as he continued to listen, he realized it wasn't. He had never heard this crying before.

Yami didn't remember how he got there, but all of sudden he found himself embracing his mother's form, which shock from crying and hiccups. She was mumbling something inaudible to him and he could just stroke her hair gently.

"I'm so sorry," Kanaka finally managed to say so he heard. "I'm so sorry for being… such a bad mother." More hiccups and pitiful sobs followed.

Yami didn't understand what she meant. Of cause she wasn't a bad mother, she was just… She just didn't have the hand with them. She couldn't control them if he and Yugi would one day try to break loose from her. She was lucky both of them were as calm as they were.

"Will you… please give me another chance. I can make it up to you. I can be the mother you deserved. Please… I'm begging you."

Yami said nothing. Just continued to let his mother weep and hold him as her tears fell onto his chest.

"I love you," Kanaka whispered. "I love you both so much!"


	9. Welcome princesses of France

Just because I'm so damn nice (and because my life will be a living hell through this entire month) I will just update early.

I hope you're prepared for what I have prepared for you. If you get confused, please let me know and I will do my best to clear it. I have fixed the mistake with the years in the chapter "Her name" by the way. So now it should be right.

Oh, and before I forget it: there will be a few possible parings in the past, but (almost) none of them will be picked up in the future. You understand?

I hope so.

I won't keep you here anymore, but don't forget to **_REVIEW_** once you've read this through. And if you are good reviewers I may update once again this month (if I have time)

* * *

**Welcome princesses of France **

One year, two years… it even took five years before anything unusual would happen again. Princess Yuniko turned thirteen and Malin was always by her side, as the princess's shadow. Sometimes the slaves and servants would wonder what the two talked about, or if Yuniko even acknowledged the girl. But those who were closer, like the princess's family, her friends and the council, knew better. Malin had given her life to the princess and always stayed by her side as the princess's nurse, and she trained eagerly to be the best female fighter of them all in order to protect her. But she had one yet undefeated opponent: the princess herself.

It was strange really. The princess was as home with weapons of all kinds. Even the guards lost to her even when they tried to win. Malin though was the best in throwing knives. Her skill was superior even to the princess. But fighting with knives and throwing them was two different things. Throwing knives did no harm if they didn't hit their target.

"I bet even blades are afraid to hurt our innocent princess," Samuel had said once when he had watched the two girls fight.

Another scary thing with the princess, the guards soon found out, she was amazingly strong. She could handle a 5 feet long sword with ease, and it was even longer than her. For her standard weapon though she had a 3 feet long blade instead. It was easier to carry around that sword if it ever would be needed.

Her father, the king, was surprisingly enough satisfied with his daughter's fighting skills. Atemu had for sure believed he would be beheaded if his father found out that he let his sister fight with real weapons. But he got no explanation to why it was fine to him. But Atemu soon got another problem.

"Marry?" he repeated from what his father had just said.

"How old are you now? 23? You can not stand watching your sister for the rest of your life, you need a suitable wife at your side to give birth and continue our blood line."

"And knowing you, I bet my life you have one behind your back," Atemu sighed.

"Not behind my back," the king chuckled. "But I know what you mean. Yes, I have already thought of one who should be exactly what our kingdom needs. She is the princess of France."

Atemu raised his eyebrows in surprise. He knew his father and the king of France was writing to each other, but he had never thought of this being their topic. He had heard the French princess was beautiful, but he doubted she was even half as beautiful as his sister.

"The least I can do is meeting her after all," Atemu said calmly.

"I knew you would see this through my view," the king said, chuckling. "I have already sent a letter a few weeks ago and invited the king and his two daughters here. I promise you they are both high beauties."

"The king has two daughters?" Atemu questioned. "I believed he had just one."

"No, oh no. He has two, with three years difference."

"Not enough to beat Yuniko's and mine difference at ten years," Atemu joked.

The king smiled broadly at his son. They were good friends. It was Yuniko who was the rebel, and against the king she met no defences. She was his daughter after all, and she didn't use that fact against him. It would just harm herself in the end. But in reality; the thought of actually going against her father had never crossed the young princess's mind.

"They will arrive shortly. Even today if we are lucky."

"Why did you wait till the very last moment to tell me?" Atemu asked more surprised than angry.

"So that you would have no chance to go against my decision."

Atemu just smiled and shook his head. His father really was sly and awere of the new times. More and more often there were reports about princesses and princes who broke away from the throne to marry someone else, someone who was not of royal blood. The king desperately wanted to avoid such a fiasco in his family.

"You can say they are beautiful, but do you not think we have a higher beauty in our land than they can ever bring up?"

"Now you are very unfair, my son," the king said and smiled sadly. "I said it before; you can not stand watching your sister for the rest of your life. It will break you in the end. She is just as royal as you, and your sister. You can not change a fact like that."

"What do you mean, father? I never wished Yuniko was not my sister."

"I know Atemu. I know."

Atemu tilted his head slightly in confusion at his father's expression, but said nothing. Instead he bowed for his father and left.

"I know, Atemu," the king whispered when his son exited the throne room. "I know, but seemingly you do not."

* * *

Yami was so much more concentrated the next day in school. He noticed more things, like the hidden undertones his teachers used whenever they spoke. He didn't know why, but he caught himself searching his classroom every now and then for things he didn't know. And his friends noticed his strange behaviour. 

"You're feeling better now, Yami?" Jono asked carefully cheerful at lunch break.

"I don't know," Yami admitted. "Though I start to feel quite worried about Ryou. He and Bakura haven't been in school ever since Yugi got into hospital. I should stop by later to see how they're doing."

"That didn't answer my question, but whatever. Why worried about your arch enemy all of sudden?"

"Not Bakura, Ryou," Yami corrected, once again scanning his surroundings for something he did not know.

"Then… how's your mother?" Otogi asked just to keep the silence away.

Yami stopped and stared at him for a second. "I don't know. She's been… different ever since yesterday. Until then I have never heard her say a word as proof she loves us…"

"Us?"

"Me and Yugi. But last night she cried her eyes out and said she loved us. I still don't know why, but I guess it is a change for the better."

His friends nodded in agreement. Though it was just Jono and Honda who had actually met his mother, the others had heard a few things, and none of them liked what they had been told.

"Is there going to happen something today?" Yami asked them all suddenly.

"Not what I know," Jono said blinking.

"Well, I don't think it can be called a 'happening'," Honda begun. "But there are those new girls that will transfer to our school today."

Yami blinked as he took another bite of his half-eaten apple. "Yes, I heard something about that I think. But it was yesterday so I'm not sure."

They continued to talk about various things. Once Yami happened to glance over his shoulder at the road outside the walls and noticed a woman taking a walk with her children.

'Yugi.'

* * *

Yuniko was in the courtyard talking with one of her father's councilmen, a surprisingly young man named Honda. But Honda didn't listen, and if he did her words passed him by. He was busy watching a cute girl on the other side of the yard. Malin had to roll her eyes at him. It was all known in the castle that Honda was crazy in cute girls, but she and the princess wasn't in his interest, partly out of respect for the royal family. 

Yuniko gave up after two sentences and just talked her time away about unimportant things. Suddenly she was cut off by calls from the great wall and turned to watch the fuss. Honda lost sight of the girl he had been watching and now the princess had his full attention.

"So they are here?" Honda said quietly.

"Who is here?" the princess asked curiously.

"His majesty informed us the king of France with family would come for a visit a couple of weeks ago, and maybe they will stay for some time. His daughters, I have been informed, can not sleep in the same room, and the only rooms the king could suggest that is wall in wall is the ones on her majesty's floor. Yet I have no doubt young Malin will disobey to lend her room. I believe her to be welcome in Milady's room."

"Malin is always welcome into my room," Yuniko said simply. "But if it is the king of France he should not lay his eyes on me now, it would not be a good first impression."

Honda nodded in agreement. The princess and Malin had been out riding with Kay again.

"Your majesty better return to her room and change," Honda suggested and the young princess agreed.

"I will see you soon," Yuniko greeted and walked straight up to the entrance on her way to her room. But before she reached the entrance she looked up into the sky to see Guardian fly away from her.

"Princess?" Malin asked as she followed her friend's gaze.

"Guardian will not watch over me anymore," Yuniko said lowly with a sad smile on her face. "He leaves me."

Malin looked after the shadow of the golden eagle who the princess loved so dearly. The golden eagle was very old by now.

"Goodbye, my Guardian," Yuniko said before she once again started walking, with the knowledge Guardian would die in peace.

At the great wall the king of France and his family were invited as the king he was though the sudden appearance. None of them noticed the two young girls in boys clothing quietly entering the castle.

* * *

Yami had another class than his friends and waved goodbye to them as he made his way over to the other school-building where he would have his usual extra English class. Jono happily waved to him in return and turned, just to jump out of his shoes in fright. 

"Very funny," Bakura hissed.

"Bakura! You… you look like…"

"Hell? I know!"

Bakura was ghostly pale and had fresh bruises on his face and arms. His eyes were red from crying and lack of sleep, his voice were hoarse and he smelled like he hadn't bathed in a month. His cloths were disorganized and he had a problem walking in a straight line.

"I'm just here to gather my schoolwork and tell the situation for Ryou's teacher. It has gone so far I have to force-feed him," Bakura sighed at the half scared expressions around him.

"Is it really that bad?"

This time everyone except Bakura almost literally jumped out of their shoes.

"You too Kaiba? You look like you haven't slept for a few days!" Otogi burst out.

"Thanks for noticing. I'm just here to get my schoolwork. Mom's waiting for me, so excuse me."

"What's his problem?" Honda whispered to Jono.

"I bet his worried about Yugi and Malik as well," Bakura muttered.

"Malik?" the others questioned staring strangely at him.

"The new guy in Yugi's and Ryou's class," Bakura explained. "You have culture too, Jono. Don't say you don't remember the platinum blond guy from that day."

Jono blinked dumbfound at him.

"Just forget it," Bakura muttered and rubbed his red eyes. He looked so tired a teacher who walked past gasped and more or less ordered Bakura to go straight back home, ending with Bakura hoarsely yelling he would just gather his homework and then be on his way. None of them noticed the two girls that were coming from principal's office.

* * *

The French king and his daughters were shown to their rooms so they could change cloths and take a bath after the long travel. Malin was gently shooed out of her room along with her few belongings and cloths. It was just because she was prepared for it Malin managed not to get angry. Yet she thought it was strange she and Yuniko didn't know of the French family's visit. From that she could tell Atemu did not know either. He never hid anything from his sister. 

In the princess's room the young nurse changed into a pale purple dress with high neck and long arms. The wide skirt reached her knees as was common for the servants. A full-length skirt would just be in the way when they worked. Yuniko on the other hand had to wear a full-length skirt. But it didn't really matter what she wore, she looked graceful and elegant in everything she dressed in.

The young nurse helped the princess to tie the blue ribbon that would make it seem Yuniko was thinner than she was. It was just fashion, something the princess just followed if it was comfortable. When looking at themselves in the huge mirror Yuniko nodded in satisfaction. Her dress was so pale blue it looked almost white, and the dark blue ribbon made it look even whiter than it was.

When both girls were fully dressed a steady hand knocked on the door.

"Enter," the princess called just loud enough for the slave outside to hear.

"Lady Yuniko," the very young slave boy Mokuba greeted and bowed as he was expected to. "His majesty wishes your presence in the throne room to welcome the king of France and his daughters properly."

The princess nodded at him with a slight smile before she sighed. Mokuba was an errand boy with messy, black hair and grey eyes. He had lost his family to the force of nature during a storm and Atemu had saved him, taking him into the castle and had to place him with the slaves, but in difference to the others Mokuba was very careful to always appear clean in front of any of the royal siblings.

"Mokuba, can you tell us why they are here?" Malin asked for her princess.

"I do not know. All I know is that they will stay for some time."

"We know that too," Malin said.

Yuniko took a rock candy from a small bowl on her desk and handed it to Mokuba. "You said you liked them," she said when Mokuba looked at the candy uncertainly. But at her words he smiled and took the candy in his mouth.

Mokuba happily sucked at the sweet peppermint candy as he led the way to the throne room as he was ordered to. Even if Yuniko certainly didn't need anyone to show her the way as she and Malin knew it way better than anyone else, it was not polite to not let the young slave lead the way. He was cute, in his own way, and was more of a partner in crime than an admirer of the princess. He even dared to say he was the princess's friend, and both the princess and Malin agreed.

When they reached the throne room Mokuba bowed quickly for the guard as he gave the two girls over to him, before he turned and bowed deeply for the princess and lightly kissed her fingers as a sign of respect.

The guard announced the princess's and her nurse's presence before they were allowed inside.

"My dear daughter," the king greeted the princess as she reached the two thrones.

The two girls walked straight up and curtsied elegantly before they took their places, Yuniko on a white pillow at her father's feet and Malin standing behind. Atemu glanced down at her lovingly before his gaze returned to the people in front of him. Their guests had yet to honour them with their presence and he was starting to get impatient.

"His majesty, Nicolaus III Lukas of France. His daughters, the princess Mai Valentine and princess Tea von Lily," a guard announced from the giant doors and let the French royal family in.

Yuniko's father rose from his throne and greeted his friend with open arms.

"My friend, I am highly honoured of your visit. Let me present my heir, my son the prince Atemu."

Atemu stood and bowed deeply for their guest. It was a tall man with warm brown eyes and dark hair. His face was wrinkled from weather, wind and age even if he wasn't too old yet. Atemu guessed his duty as a king had aged him faster, or his daughters were no angels.

"And this is my daughter, the princess Yuniko."

Yuniko stood gracefully with one hand on Malin's. Not that it was needed, it was simply a show that they held on to for reasons unknown. But a princess should, according to Yuniko's father, be something delicate like a doll of glass.

Malin had her eyes on her princess's heel and curtsied with as much elegance as the princess.

"Who is the other girl? She surely can not be your daughter," Lukas questioned.

"Malin came here five years ago and simply befriended my daughter. Since then she hasn't left my daughter's side for anything," Yuniko's father said. He had long ago decided the story about Malin should stay untold, and everyone in the castle had agreed.

Lukas nodded at the princess's friend before he took a step to the side to present his own daughters.

"My friend Loutus, this is my older daughter Mai Valentine."

He held out his hand and one of his daughters stepped forwards and took it. She was brought in front of Atemu, who bowed more out of habit than anything else. But he had to admit this woman to be beautiful. Her blonde hair was curly and hung loosely over her back down to her hips. Her skin was pale from the hours she spent inside instead of outside enjoying the blessings of the sun. She was dressed in a long cerise dress that brought out the colour of her purple eyes.

"It is an honour to meet you, monsieur Atemu," she said with seductive voice, giving the young prince her hand. Atemu had to steel himself to not flinch; he hated when girls used that voice towards him.

"The pleasure is mine, my dear princess Valentine," he answered calmly with a smile and softly kissed her fingers.

"And my younger daughter Tea von Lily," Lukas addressed and brought his other daughter forward.

* * *

When Yami walked into his last class he was surprised to see his seat taken by a girl he had never seen before. 

"Excuse me? You sit at my place," Yami told her politely.

The girl looked up at him with eyes wide with playfulness and temporary nervousness. She quickly rose from the chair.

"Sorry! I didn't know. This seat was free, or so I thought…"

"Hey, hey, calm down," Yami calmed her stumbling apologizes. "I won't hit you just because you took my seat. You're new here?"

"I am, uh, Anzu Tea Valentine Mazaki Gardner," she presented herself.

"That was awfully lots of names," Yami commented and took her hand in greeting. "I myself am named Yami Atemu. The pleasure is mine."

"My sister would love you," Anzu said more out of loss of words than anything else.

"You have a sister?"

"One year older so she's in final grade. Her name is Mai Valentine Mazaki Gardner. She's something of a hot bimbo, but she's real nice and smart when she wants to be."

The bell rang and Anzu quickly searched for a seat anywhere near her new friend. Yami was thrown into sudden depression at the mention of a sibling. All his attention was thrown back at Yugi by an instant, and his former attention was long gone.

* * *

Nothing betrayed Atemu's thoughts when the girl stood in front of him. She was a sun-skinned brunette with playful blue eyes, dressed in a light purple dress. Her hair was straight and reached not longer than to her shoulders. 

"Prince Atemu," she addressed sweetly. "It is very interesting to see you in person," she said with a smile as she curtsied.

Atemu blinked out of surprise, but then smiled as his eyes softened and he bowed, going with the game.

"I see you have heard something of me," he said and his smile could be heard in his voice. "Too bad my father has not told me anything about you or your sister."

As both of them stood up they smiled at each other, Atemu kissing the girl's fingers when the hand was offered to him.

"Yuniko, give your greetings to our guests," the young princess's father told her.

The treasure took a few steps forward to stand in front of the other two princesses. She smiled brightly and curtsied along with Malin, who looked more or less disgusted.

"I certainly hope your visit here will not be in vain," Yuniko said. "As I hope your rooms fit your needs."

Malin sensed rather than saw her king glare at his daughter, and couldn't help but smile. The princess did well in impression this far.

"The rooms are very pretty," Tea said and curtsied in return.

"Indeed," Mai said and curtsied as well.

The small talk was soon over and everyone was allowed back to their rooms since it was getting time for supper soon.

"Let me show you back to your rooms," Yuniko offered and curtsied for the other two princesses.

"Very kind of you," Tea said kindly.

"Yuniko."

"Yes dear brother?"

Atemu let his eyes glide between the three girls in front of him swiftly. "I wish to talk to you later."

"As you wish, brother," Yuniko smiled before she curtsied in respect and left with the other three girls following her heels.

Out in the corridors all the formality dropped from all three princesses.

"Your brother sure is hot," Mai said and licked her lip. "Can you tell me where his room is located?"

"His majesty has given orders we are not to tell you if he does not allow it himself," Malin said sternly.

"Be quiet, mademoiselle. No need to get involved in royalties' business," Mai scolded kindly, but Malin scowled anyway.

"But Atemu at least is not one of those boring lusty men who thinks of nothing but bed life," Tea said with a smile.

"Brother is still virgin as far as I know," Yuniko said unembarrassed. "And who would know better if not me?"

She turned around to the shocked guests and smiled brightly.

"You are one strange little mademoiselle," Tea said with wide eyes.

"No, my princess is the ruler of Scotland, nothing less," Malin said simply.

This time the older girls stopped dead in their tracks and stared wide eyed at the two younger ones.

"Milady," someone called suddenly and Yuniko turned to see Mokuba running towards them. "Milady, his majesty sent me to tell you to behave more like a child," Mokuba said out of breath.

"Oh," Yuniko said as she blinked cutely. "Then I need to send you back with my answer, take your time to tell my dear father it is too late. His majesty Lukas's daughters already know of the secret."

Mokuba smiled broadly. "Can I have another candy if I do?"

Yuniko smiled kindly. "Of cause, anytime Mokuba."

"You call a simple slave by name?" Mai cried out.

"Of cause, why not. After all he is my friend."

"You are beyond strange, mademoiselle," Tea commented.

Yuniko seemed to be hit by a thought and Malin caught the hint. The young princess started to giggle before she started to dance ahead. Malin grabbed her skirt with both hands and started to spin around to make the material fly around her.

"Come and dance with us," Yuniko called as she half ran, half danced ahead.

The older princesses looked at each other in question. This young princess was just one big mystery for them both.

"This is your rooms," Yuniko and Malin said in union as the opened the two doors. "We hope they serve our guests right," they continued as they curtsied.

"Merci," Mai said, nodding her head to Yuniko who held the door to her room open.

"Thank you so much," Tea smiled to Malin who held the door to her own room open.

"Does my lady wish her room cool or warm tonight?" Malin asked politely.

Tea turned to her then glanced up at the ceiling in thought.

"I enjoy my bedroom warm, why?"

Malin took a step inside and pointed at a rusty piece of metal close to the ceiling. Behind it a hollow space was visible. "That thing is what mostly controls the temperature in here. If you close it completely the room will be as hot as a midsummer day, if the hole is completely exposed I am sure you would freeze to death. I can close it a little more since I myself enjoy my nights a little cooler."

Malin agilely jumped to a chair to a desk to the old grandfather clock to reach the piece of metal and cover the hole a little more.

"That should do it," Malin said as she jumped down at the floor again.

"Mademoiselle?" Tea asked the young nurse before she went out of the room. "How come you know of that? Are there one in every room?"

"Of cause not, your majesty. This is simply my room," Malin said and left, giggling away with her princess on the way to the other's room, leaving Tea in a loss of words.

* * *

The young princess entered the library where she had been told her older brother were at that evening. She had left Malin in her room, with the promise of a soon return. The sun was almost set and she was a little tired, but she was determined to find out what her brother needed to tell her. 

"Brother?"

"There you are!"

Yuniko yelped when strong arms lifted her op from behind and soon she found herself in Atemu's strong embrace, him smirking down at her. She giggled at his playfulness.

"You wished to talk to me, brother," she reminded him softly.

Atemu glanced around himself to be sure no one was around, eavesdropping.

"I got a letter from one of the slaves, Mokuba, this morning."

"From Mokuba? Why? It must have been sneaked in here."

"Indeed," Atemu almost whispered as he walked up to one of the wide windows. "It is from the last person to ever be welcome into this castle again."

Yuniko's eyes widened. Her brother's voice were tense, something that was definitely not usual. "From who?"

"Mother!" Atemu breathed.

Yuniko paled, but a smile made its way over her pale features as she tried not to cry out in pure happiness.

"She will come back here in five years, the time it takes for her to walk here from London, and when that day comes you have to be ready for anything since you are the one she has to talk to. She wrote she will have our two younger sisters with her."

"I have little sisters?" Yuniko breathed wide-eyed.

Atemu nodded, smiling at her happiness. Little sisters meant she had someone more to take care of. He placed her back down on the floor and knelt in front of her.

"We have, but until then she warned that something may happen, and it will not be something pleasant. We have to wait and be prepared for anything sister. But promise me you will not tell Malin about this."

"Why not?" Yuniko questioned with eyes wide from confusion.

"Not because I do not trust her, but simply to keep her safe. If word ever spill out Malin will not be harmed since she knows nothing about mother."

Yuniko nodded in understanding. Five years sounded so long though. She wasn't sure if she could actually wait for so long.

"I trust you," Atemu whispered lovingly. "If you ever need to talk about it, you know where to find me."

The young princess nodded as a tear of pure bliss fell from her left eye. Atemu hastily wiped it away.

"Show no sign," he whispered into her face. "Show no hint."

The treasure nodded once again and kissed her brother good night. "I love you, brother."

"And I love you, my little treasure."

When Yuniko went to bed that night, with a happy smile on her face at the thought of seeing her mother again and the sight of a sound asleep Malin at the edge of her bed, she had no idea what five years meant. A lot could happen, and even more could change.


	10. Young whore's diary

I must say I am disappointed with you, my readers. I know from the stats of this story at least 20-25 are reading this, and only **1** of all of you are sending me your thoughts about it. To tell you the truth I'm kind of losing interest for this entire thing. This is actually the first story of mine that has passed a hundred pages within six months. A friend of mine said this was one of the best things I have ever done, and the **ONLY ONE** reviewing to me says she/he loves this story. Well... I have to admit I am kind of stuck in the story. Honestly, I am. Luckily I have a few chapters done already.

What I want to say is that I need a little back up so that I can find some motivation to continue writing this.

**IMPORTANT! **I'm updating now since I will have **NO** **CHANCE** to update in January. The next chapter will probably be up in the middle of Febuary (that's probably wring spelled, but who cares?)

_Happy New Year_

* * *

**Young whore's diary **

Ryou lay on his bed as he had been the last four days, staring holes in the wall. He was conscious still, but he didn't know for how much longer he could keep it like that.

'Why am I so out of my mind scared?' he wondered for the millionth time in four days.

He looked down at the teddy bear in his arms. He wondered slightly if it would answer if he asked it any of his many questions.

"I'm home, Ryou," Bakura called from the door tiredly.

'Thank you,' Ryou thought silently. He was more than grateful that Bakura stayed by his side though all that he had done and not done in those four days.

"Are you any better?" his older brother asked lowly, not expecting an answer.

'No,' Ryou thought. That was all he did nowadays: thought. He heard everything Bakura said and did, he just couldn't voice his thoughts.

The phone rang and Bakura went to answer. Ryou heard the usual small talk. The one who rang was looking for him. He heard Bakura's very short explanation and then a few seconds of silence.

"**WHAT?"**

Ryou blinked at his brother's raised voice. Had something happened?

"When? What? I mean… you want us over now? ... Fine, we'll be there!"

The phone was hung up and Bakura entered his younger brother's room with much more enthusiasm than before.

"Ryou, Yugi's asking for you!"

The mention of his best friend's name brought the young albino back to life. He sat up and stared at his brother with hope shining in his eyes.

"Yami's mother called and said she was at the hospital. She said Yugi was hurting and mumbling in his sleep. He mumbled your name she told me. We're going there right now!"

Ryou blinked in confusion.

"Yugi's… not awake?"

"Obviously not," Bakura said a little slower. "But that he's calling your name must mean he is on his way out of that state."

A slow smile made Ryou's eyes shine with new hope.

* * *

They sat in a corner eating dry bread as their mother was in another room with a man buying her favours. They were both used to this life, being born into it, but they both wanted nothing but to get out of it. 

"Kyoko, what do you think about this journey mother is talking about?" the older sister Ryouko asked quietly.

"Nothing," the younger one said, trying to clean her hands on her dirty dress. "I just hope it will take us away from this life. I never wanted to live it in the first place."

"Now you are unfair to life, my little Kyoko," their mother said as she walked into the tiny room.

"You did not need to give birth to me," Kyoko hissed. "Now you have just more problems feeding three mouths instead of just your own."

The elder woman, commonly known as Silver Rose, smiled sadly and patted her two daughters' heads lovingly. "I could never kill such a beautiful thing as a baby. You will know when you are older. Being a mother is the best thing that ever has happened to me."

Kyoko slapped her mother's hand away and went over to the simple bed of rags they had to sleep on.

"You have not even a clue of who our fathers are," she muttered bitterly.

Rose sighed sadly. This was definitely not the life she wished to give her daughters. But there was one way to change it.

"I have enough money to leave this place now," she told them both. "We will travel north. There will be a place so wonderful you can not even imagine."

Kyoko turned around to face her mother. "It is just a dream," she said coldly.

"I am born there," Rose said as Ryouko placed her head in her lap to let herself fall asleep. "There is a huge wood in the north where I know the princess of Scotland played when she was younger. The white castle which stands as a great guardian over the small village and its surroundings is so mighty you can not understand. I have been inside that castle. The young princess was so beautiful even if she was merely five years old. And the prince, he was so handsome. But the king was a little of a sour lemon. The young princess sometimes had to rule in his place since she did not like his decisions."

Ryouko's and Kyoko's eyes fell closed at their mother's mumbling voice. How many times hadn't she told them this story? Ryouko and Kyoko both loved them, but the rational Kyoko couldn't believe it was anything but a fairytale. It simply was too beautiful to be true. And she couldn't give in to dreams.

Ryouko wished with her whole heart that she would one day see those wonderful places her mother always talked about. She was only 9, and Kyoko would turn 8 in three months. She was one and a half year younger than Ryouko. But however much her mother hated it, Ryouko was experienced with the work of a whore. And there was nothing that could change that fact. Kyoko was yet untouched, but the former queen feared for how long her youngest daughter would stay virgin.

"I hope my letter reached you, my son," she whispered as she looked at the moon shining through the window.

* * *

_June 4, 1625_

_Mother has taken us away from the whorehouse we grew up in. We have a little food and money with us, and mother say there are plenty of men who will pay her for her favours. I know why she does not wish my help. The first time I took a job she was so mad at me she screamed herself hoarse. I wish she had hit me that day, though I know it still hurt from the night, but her screaming was worse than that pain._

_Kyoko is tense, I can sense it. Even if she tried everything to seem unfazed I see how her lips are pressed together in a thin line and how her brow is furrowed in uneasiness. We are resting after having walked for about four hours. I wish I know how long this journey will take. Mother said the white castle is very far in the north, but I will not give up. How can I? We are on the way to the place we all have dreamt of for so long. As it is now, I can say nothing but that I love to be alive._

"Ryouko. We will depart now, so stop writing," Rose said as she put down the bottle of water and the food they hadn't eaten now into her package.

"How long will it take before we reach the white castle?" Kyoko asked with badly hidden eagerness.

"Sadly, it will take us a few years by feet," Rose said looking down so her golden bangs hid her eyes.

Both sisters' faces fell at their mother's words.

"Does that mean we will never make it there?" Kyoko said disappointed.

"Of cause we will reach the castle," Rose said with a bright smile and shining eyes. "The princess is waiting for me. I simply can not lose on this journey."

* * *

It was a very jumpy Ryou who entered the hospital that afternoon. He tried to walk as close to his brother as possible, but he didn't really know why he was so nervous. 

Bakura noticed his younger brother's uneasiness and led him with a protective arm around his slightly trembling shoulders. Ryou hugged himself tightly as if trying to keep himself from all harm.

"Hey, nurse," Bakura called and waved for a seemingly free nurse. "We're here to visit Yugi Atemu."

"The cutie? The one with wavy, tricolored hair?" the nurse asked and her face was lit up with something that looked like delight.

"Yes," Bakura told her with suppressed disgust. "The one in dream state."

* * *

A year passed by swiftly. Ryouko and Kyoto was now used to travelling and to make money every way possible. They could sometimes find a farm where they worked for a few days to gain a little money and food. And it was at one of them they were now. 

"Mother, do you think we will ever reach the white castle?" Kyoko said tonelessly as she tried to find her food appetizing.

"Of cause we will, dear," Rose said and her voice told her daughters they shouldn't talk back.

"How long will it take until we are there?" Ryouko asked and her eyes begged her mother to say it wouldn't be long.

"You are heading for Scotland?" asked another voice.

The three girls turned to the source of the voice, their young, newly married hostess.

"We are," Rose said and bowed her head as a sign of respect.

"No needs for formality, woman," the hostess said. "You have helped me out so much these days and my husband is more than surprised our money is not gone."

"We are no thieves," Kyoko said coldly. "Why does everyone think that of us?"

"Because travellers are not as common as before," the woman said. "When my grandmother was young there passed travellers almost every month. Now I hardly see any at all. You are the first travellers I have seen in fifteen years."

"Our destination is the white castle of Scotland," Rose said quietly. "I so badly wish to see it once again."

"They say the prince is engaged," the woman said thinking of all the gossip she had heard from her husband and friends.

"He is? When? How? Who?"

"Easy now. I will tell you everything. It was a long time since I could tell anyone something they did not know already. I heard it was just a few months ago, with the younger princess of France. I have not seen any of them myself but she is supposed to be a very fine girl with blue eyes. The French king returned home as soon as the engagement was official, with the princess's very jealous older sister."

"I wish to meet her once," Rose said with a distant look in her amethyst eyes.

"Me too, but most of all I wish to see princess Yuniko in person."

"Is that her name?" Ryouko asked quietly, as if afraid anyone would hear what they were talking about.

"It is," Rose said. "Princess Yuniko of Scotland." She was about to say something more, but closed her mouth and kept silent.

"They say she has grown into one of the most beautiful girls in Scotland, England and Wales. I am not sure how old she is, but she has to be at least eighteen to spread such a rumour."

"No," Rose almost whispered. "She has just turned fourteen."

"Fourteen!" their hostess burst out in surprise. "No way! She can not be so young… She can not!"

A sound outside and the three girls' host came in with a serious look on his face. In his hands he had a small pouch that scrambled slightly with coins.

"Take these and leave," he said anxiously to Rose and handed her the money. His eyes showed concern and fear.

"What is happening?" his wife asked with her heart in her throat. "Not they, is it?"

"It is. Word has spread and now they want to take you and your daughters away."

"What is happening? Will you two be all right?" Rose asked anxiously as she took the money.

"You have been very reliable even if I suspected you to be thieves. So I can not let you be caught by the governor's men to be slaves in his bed. Now leave, and do not look back."

Rose understood the seriousness in the situation and grabbed Kyoko's arm. Ryouko, in a second of worry for her hosts, collected what was left of their food and ran after her sister and mother.

"Live well," they heard the woman whisper after their backs.

Rose ran as fast as she could with money and Kyoko in her arms. Ryouko was quick and agile enough to run for herself, but Kyoko was yet too small.

Behind them they heard loud yells and the cries of their hosts. Kyoko was the only one looking backwards over her mother's shoulder, and in therefore was the only one who saw the shadows of the guards that was there to take them.

"They are burning their farm down," Kyoko whispered into her mother's ear as she saw the sparkles of red and yellow between the trees that protected them.

"Mother, we have to help them!" Ryouko called as she too looked back.

"We can not," Rose said with hitched breath and tears in her eyes. "They told us to not turn back, and they saved us out of own free will. They both knew what they were doing and risking. We can not let their death be in vain by going back and risk the safety of ours that they wanted to protect."

Ryouko and Kyoko cried silently as they continued to flee from the burning farm.

* * *

_July 28, 1626_

_I do not know if the kind couple who saved us survived, but I pray to God with all I have to show them mercy. They deserve a good place in heaven. Mother is using the money we got carefully. She discovered that it was gold and silver coins. With them we can live for at least another year. We have a lot to thank those people for. They risked their lives for us. Mother told us it was out of sympathy, thankfulness for what we had helped them with, and hatred towards the governor of this piece of land. They rather lost their lives than lived with the knowledge they had left us to our painful fate. Therefore I will write their names here, so I can forever remember them and know I live thanks to them._

_David, son to Richard_

_Sophia, daughter to Gonnf_

Ryouko closed her dairy and let the feather stick up to remind her where she was. It was not much left of her dairy now. She would need a new one in a few months.

* * *

When Ryou and Bakura was shown to Yugi's and Malik's room Ryou was visible calmer. He relaxed much more, though the pain that every now and then shot up his back, but he ignored it. Right now all he could think of was to once again see Yugi's face.

"Ryou? So you are here too?"

The two brothers turned to Seto, who also looked surprisingly relaxed considering he was at the hospital, and he hated the hospital, now more than ever.

"Hi Seto. Visiting Yugi too I suppose," Ryou greeted Seto with soft voice.

"Are you related to the two pretty boys?" the annoying nurse asked curiously.

Bakura had to take a deep breath, but Seto and Ryou just stared at her.

"No," Seto said calmly. "We're their friends."

"How come you two can be so relaxed? Just this morning you looked like ready to kill yourself, Ryou," Bakura said, his eyes even more tired than before.

"I don't know," Ryou said softly. "I just feel everything will turn out for the best."

* * *

Ryouko and Kyoko sat in the small room at the little hut they had been given to rest in. It was cosy in there and the light from the window was of gold and orange, caused by the setting sun. It was three years since they had left the whorehouse in London, and right now none of them could believe their luck. Soon they would reach Scotland.

After two years of hard and unmerciful weather, rough and stingy costumers, not enough food and Kyoko falling ill for a long time, where even Ryouko had to take jobs so they could gain enough money too keep her alive, they had found this huge farm, owed by an old but amazingly rich widow. She was short in temper and fussy as no one, but she was strictly fair and kind-hearted. She had for a long time needed someone to help her clean her house and garden. With her growing age she found it harder and harder to move, so Rose had begged the old woman to let the three of them stay for a while and help her out with everything. That was just two days ago.

Ryouko hadn't been able to write in her dairy for a long while. The old one was long since finished and she hadn't dared to ask her mother for a new one. But Rose had known her daughter's dairy was finished and had very carefully asked the old widow if she had another to give her, with the promise to pay for it. The widow had asked to see Ryouko's old dairy. She hadn't said anything, but with a friendly smile handed the white-haired teenager the old and a new dairy with ink and a pen, all for free. Ryouko had protested wildly at first. Ink was kind of expensive and so were dairies. The widow had just smiled and said she had enough money to give those small things to her.

Now Ryouko stared down at her new dairy. It was clad in red, soft leather and had a thin ribbon in to place at which side she was.

"What will you write first?" Kyoko asked her softly from where she lay on the soft mattress on the warm floor.

Ryouko smiled down at the dairy. "Of how grateful I am to be alive, and to be here with you and mother, and that I own so much to the widow Mary."

Kyoko smiled at her. She herself was not so much for writing, but Ryouko found it relaxing to write about everything that happened. And with her sister's dairy they could always tell who they could return to if needed.

"I almost wish we could stay here forever," Kyoko said softly.

"Almost? You too wish to see the white castle more than anything?"

"Yes," Kyoko whispered. "All the gossip we have heard is only about how amazing the land is, and how respected the royal family is. When only mother talked about the castle it sounded as nothing but a dream. But now, when we have heard so many others talk about it, I believe it is true."

"And when we are there none of us will ever take in any nightly costumers. We will live a better life, as we have it here."

Kyoko smiled and turned on her stomach. "Mother told me that if we look good enough we can even live with the servants inside the castle, maybe in the kitchen. That way we could always look at the princess and the prince. They say he is very handsome."

Ryouko giggled. "Are you in love, Kyoko? You sound like you want to sleep in the prince's bed."

"No," Kyoko said with a mild glare at her older sister. "But I wish to see him. How many girls have we not met who's highest wish is to meet the prince of Scotland?"

"I wish to see the princess more. I mean, to be considered as Scotland's, England's and Wales's highest beauty at the mare age of fourteen."

"So what? I bet I will be the most beautiful when I turn fourteen. But I swear no one will ever be as beautiful as mother."

"True," Ryouko said smiling.

* * *

When they finally stood in front of the door, Ryou felt the firm pang of regret once again. The nurse opened the door swiftly, eager to see Yugi's and Malik's faces once again.

"They are so pretty, I wish I was still in high school," she said with a sigh as she watched the two boys.

Seto and Bakura glared sharply at her, but Ryou went straight to Yugi's bed. Bakura had already told him about Malik being in the same state and wasn't surprised to find him there.

"He looks troubled," he stated softly. "And hurt?"

Seto went over to inspect what he had said. He couldn't see what Ryou found so troubled, but he could feel it in Yugi's aura.

"He has cried recently," Ryou said, tracing the wet line from Yugi's eyes till it disappeared in the blackness of his hair. A new tear followed the wet path into his hair as Ryou moved his hand away.

Bakura went over to them and could only say that Ryou seemed to be right.

"Brother."

They all jumped at Yugi's unexpected whisper.

"I'll call for Dr Lou," the nurse said hurriedly, remembering her duties.

"I'll go call for Yugi's idiot for a brother. You can stay here if you wish."

Ryou nodded without taking his eyes from his best friend. He waited for him to call his name as well, but nothing came.

* * *

They would reach the white castle soon, in just a few months. Ryouko was now a thirteen-year-old, pretty girl with pearly hair which had the habit to turn into a whitish hint of pink in the morning and evenings. Her big, brown eyes often held a timid look, but right now one could see nothing but excitement and eagerness to see the castle she had dreamt of for so long.

_November 5, 1629_

_This is a dream! I have never in my life felt so alive and exited, and yet we are three months travelling by foot away from the white castle. Kyoko is widely smiling as well. She has become so old within those five years it has taken us to come here. Before we left the whorehouse she always acted like she wanted to die. But now, though cold and somewhat proud, she is more human and childish than ever. I see how her eyes are glistening like snow in the sun. She is sitting straighter, her smiles come from her heart and she looks much healthier than before._

_Mother just left us to pray once again. I do not know why, but ever since we left Widow Mary she has been distressed and seemingly filled with grief. But she is working hard to not let it show. Another thing I find strange is that mother is more and more carefully trying to cover her hair and face in the shadow of black cloths. A few days ago a boy asked me who has died. I told him no one had died. He then asked why mother was wearing black. He told me black was the colour of grief and was used to signal to everyone around she was crying over someone who had died. I still find it strange, that colours could signal such things. When I asked mother about it she just said she had to hide her face, but refused to tell me why._

_I wonder if it has something to do with the white castle and the royal family. She has always said she has lived here once, what if she is not welcome back. But that is impossible._

_But the inn owner has warned us for something he does not know of. He gave us all a crucifix to always carry around the neck. He said it would protect us, but from what he could not say._

"Ryouko, we will depart soon!" Kyoko said as she entered the small room they had been able to pay for with the money they still had from Widow Mary. She had given them far more than they had ever been able to dream about. But their mother had still insisted on continuing her work. She had told them it was because they couldn't rely on this money forever, sooner or later they would be gone. Kyoko had also started with the work of a whore the year they left Widow Mary.

Kyoko was now 12 years old and a rare beauty. She had carefully cut nutmeg coloured hair that fell into her bright, ice blue eyes. Her eyes were as big as Ryouko's but with longer and darker eyelashes to bring out the colour of her eyes even more. Even though she was still young her chest was beginning to grow. She was still kind of flat, but she was getting there.

Ryouko had bigger brests, as half apples, since she was older. Her body was becoming the one of a woman.

"Girls, we are leaving immediately," Rose said as she peeped into the room, her eyes holding a hunted expression.

Worriedly watching over them as they packed their things together Rose more or less pushed them out of the inn and started to walk in a fast pace.

"Mother? Why are you in such a hurry?" Ryouko asked after a few moments.

Rose seemed to suddenly remember she was not alone and slowed down.

"I am sorry, my dears. But it is not safe for me to be here. Too many people have once seen my face, and if they recognize me we will never reach the white castle."

"Why is that?" Kyoko asked slightly annoyed.

"I can not tell you here. Once we have reached the white castle everything will clear for you. But for now, please be patient with your questions. I can not answer them."

* * *

Ryou could stare himself blind at those closed eyelids. Seto stood just as silent also looking at Yugi's closed eyes. But when Yugi started to open his eyes, none of them were surprised.

Ryou fell into the green depths. He lay down beside Yugi and used his chest as a pillow, joining his friend wherever he was at.

Turning his intense eyes at Seto the same thing happened, but Seto just took his hand and rested his head at the bed, sitting in a chair beside it.

When Bakura returned he just thought Ryou had fallen asleep at Yugi's side and didn't do anything. He was surprised though to see Seto also fast asleep holding Yugi's hand firmly. But when Dr Lou finally entered the room with a very fussy nurse…

"Again?" Lou whispered.

"What do you mean 'again'?" Bakura wanted to know suspiciously.

"This is the same thing that happened when young Mr. Ishtar became a 'Dreamer' as we have decided to call them."

Bakura could first just stare at him and didn't want to get it.

"No," he whispered and went over to Yugi's bed. He started to gently shake Ryou, in vain trying to wake him up. "Ryou… _Ryou_… **RYOU**!"

* * *

Ryouko woke up before the sun this morning. They were not far away from the white castle now. Wait… white castle? What white castle?

She looked around and saw her mother and Kyoko lying on a soft blanket and another, thinner blanket over them to stay warm in the cold winter nights. They had found this little cosy hut the day before and took the freedom to sleep in there.

Everything that had happened in the last five years and her life before that passed by her mind and suddenly she was wide awake.

'The white castle where the princess lives,' she thought and stood up, just to remember something else that didn't belong.

'I'm a girl? Should I not be a boy?'

Faint memories came back, before she threw them aside, deciding the life she had lived as a male didn't belong in the life she lived now.

Kyoko awoke at the sound of her sister dressing and walking away quietly.

"Where are you going, sister?" she asked without opening her eyes.

"I want to see the white castle," Ryouko answered softly.

Kyoko just hummed and fell into a light slumber again, but when the door closed behind Ryouko everything hit in.

She sat up straight and looked down at her body. She was a twelve years old girl? Memories passed by and just like Ryouko, Kyoko decided the female memories were what she should hang on to.

Silently she got up, dressed in a dirty, half-length skirt and an oversized shirt before she followed Ryouko to the cliff where they could see the white castle in the new light of the morning sun.


	11. Yuniko's tears

This is one **LOOOOOOOONG **chapter.

Hi, I'm back again. This chapter is the absolutely longest I have ever written (almost 20 pages). But I think I have done something really wrong. I have checked up the years and everyone's age, but I am still not sure I am correct everywhere. So if you find something that lookes strange, please tell me so I can change it. I am planning a "shut down, reupdate" thingy. You know, erase the story entirely and then put it up again (since I'm finding other wrongdoings as well every here and there).

But I will leave you to decide that for me. You are the ones who read my story after all.

I shall not occupy you any longer. On with the fic (the longest chapter in this story, I promise)

* * *

**Yuniko's tears**

Yuniko's life seemed to get harder every day. Her freedom was slowly ripped away from her as she grew older. Atemu always covered up for her when she and Malin sneaked out to just be themselves and relax for a moment. Malin wondered why Yuniko always sat in her window staring south every morning, but the young princess wouldn't answer such a question.

"You have been sitting at that window every morning for almost three years, Yuni," she stated one morning, shortly before the princess's sixteenth birthday.

"I know," Yuniko said, not taking her seeking eyes from the still dark cliff in the south.

"Are you waiting for something?"

"Like what?" Yuniko asked and finally turned her eyes towards her. For a moment Malin thought she saw the sky through the treasure's head by her eyes; they held the exact same colour.

"How would I know? You will not tell me what you are waiting for," the blonde girl complained.

"Have I told you I am waiting for someone?" Yuniko asked surprised.

"No," Malin muttered.

"You should know by now I tell you everything I can," the princess said with a gentle smile, but Malin felt like lying down and die right there for her suspiciousness.

"Forgive me," she whispered, looking down at her feet and began fumbling with her fingers.

Yuniko gracefully glided off the window hill and embraced her friend softly. She hadn't lied. She did tell Malin everything she could, but she simply couldn't tell her about her mother.

"You will turn sixteen in three days, princess," Malin said softly into the loving embrace she used to hide herself.

"I know," Yuniko said calmly, not letting her friend go, and Malin really didn't want her princess to let go.

"Stableman Kay and I have a special gift for you, and we have to give it to you in the early morning, by sunrise. And then…"

"Then what?"

Malin turned her head so her ear rested against the princess's chest so she could hear the calm beating of her heart inside. She tried not to pout, but failed miserably.

"Joel told me to ask you to keep your window open on your birthday morning, before the sun rises."

"By your face I can tell you think his gift is better than yours," Yuniko smiled down at her.

It was kind of funny; Yuniko was short even for her age, but Malin, being half a year older, was half a head shorter, but she would grow past her in a soon future, still she was quick like the wind and her tongue as sharp as razors. She wasn't afraid of anything.

"He has put down so much more energy behind his gift," she mumbled and this time pouted without trying to hide it.

Yuniko smiled a happy smile. "But I am very sure yours comes right from your very heart, my treasured friend."

Malin had to blush at her princess's words. It actually was a gift from her heart, which she had sneaked out late at night to talk to Kay about for a long time.

A knocking on the door shattered the cosy atmosphere and Malin shivered from the loss of Yuniko's body heat.

"Enter," Yuniko called unfazed.

"Milady, his majesty order your presence at the meeting with the council as soon as you are dressed," an old servant said when he opened the door on the princess's call.

"He always orders me around nowadays," Yuniko said with a sigh and walked to her dresser. Malin helped her dress into a formfitting, sky blue dress, which toned over into white in the edges. Its sleeves were wide and the material was thin enough to let her skin breathe in the midsummer heat.

"It is as if you were the closest advisor always expected to be there whenever his majesty turns around," Malin said as she combed the treasure's hair and pulled it into a knot on top of her head, skilfully tying up the hair without a ribbon. Last she tied the broad, blue ribbon around the princess's thin waist and the two of them left the safety of the princess's room.

* * *

"Princess Yuniko, I would appreciate if you could take a little less time to make yourself look perfect," the king scolded his daughter the moment she entered the meeting room. 

"If I take less time for it, I will not look as perfect as you wish me to be," Yuniko gave back unembarrassed.

Malin had long since figured out a way to give back on the king for his never-ending complaining. She imagined the clever words coming from the princess's mouth was her own, but she let in much more contempt in her voice.

"There is a problem outside the village by the cliff south of the castle," Honda said once Yuniko had settled down with Malin standing like a bodyguard behind her chair.

"What kind of problem?" Yuniko asked.

"I do not know. The reports say it is robbers living in the wood, but seemingly they attack only riding people, not those who walk by foot."

"Only I, the owners of the inns and the church own horses around here," the king stated. "Why attack those riding?"

"Yet to be revealed," Honda said.

"Father, I and Malin will take three men and go south to find out what is happening this evening."

"You should be more in case it is dangerous."

"If we are too many they may not dare to attack. Three men, handpicked by me, will be enough."

The king nodded his head and the meeting continued. The king and council brought up problems and Yuniko solved them. At the age of only fifteen, soon sixteen, Yuniko was a used ruler of the kingdom, yet she was it undercover. If it came out she was the real ruler, the king would be embarrassed in front of the entire kingdom. But the truth was: Yuniko was born to rule.

Ending the meeting with many problems solved with just a few words, the council set their many orders into action and the young princess went to pick three of the guards to ride out in the evening.

"Why in the evening?" Malin asked. "They might as well attack in clear daylight; no one is brave enough to go out riding after dark. To me they seem to be travelling robbers like I was. Used thieves of cause use the night, but they do not need to pay heed for the time of day."

"No," the princess said almost sternly. "These are not travellers, and they are not real thieves. They are after something and I will find out what. You will have to help me comb and tie my hair. I want it to be a pigtail in a wreath around my head. That way it will not be in my way."

"Yes Milady."

Since the day it was announced that Malin would be Yuniko's nurse, Lisa and other servants had learnt the former thief how to act and talk and various other things. Yuniko did not usually boss her around, if not in a bad mood, but Malin would marry the Devil if her friend ordered it, even in a fit of rage. After all, Yuniko had saved her life, and so had Atemu. She had asked the prince as well how she could ever repay him. He had smiled and only told her to stay close to Yuniko and keep herself from all harm.

"Why are you so tense today, Yuniko?" Malin asked after a moment.

"Because I can not believe my father and his advisors," the young princess almost whispered. "I can see the solutions of the problems as I can see my own hand in clear daylight, but they have to think of it over and over again to come to the same answer. It is like they have never talked to anyone below their own class."

"I believe not many of them have," Malin agreed. "It would help them much if they did. Knowing how usual people live and think will lead to knowledge of how they wish their country to be. And as you once said; you never wished anyone to fear what inhabit your land."

"I know even brother could come to quicker decisions than the council. He often talks to the villagers. When I was younger he used to tell me quite funny stories about what normal children use to do, what no one could ever believe me to do even if they saw me."

Yuniko's smile was not forced. Talking about passed times and her kingdom always calmed her when she had awakened on the wrong side. By now they had reached the princess's chamber and were met by a bored-looking Atemu.

"Greetings sister. Mind if I join whatever you will do today?"

"Of cause not brother," Yuniko said with the brightest smile she saved for her brother alone. For Malin the princess saved an own kind of smile, the one of love and thankfulness.

"What is Lady Tea doing, my prince?" Malin asked as she closed the door behind the royal siblings.

"She is a real pain in the ass," Atemu said unembarrassed. As long as no one else was around he could use a rougher language than usual. Yuniko always found it amusing to listen to it, but she never used that kind of language herself.

"What is she doing now?" the princess asked amused, grabbing a comb and giving it to her brother with an apologizing look at her nurse.

"She wishes us to go to the northern woods and play. She has not understood it is not safe to go to the north woods yet. And even if I tell her she just laughs and says I am too paranoid," Atemu complained as he gently drew the comb through his sister's silky waves of black and blue hair. By now it was so long it reached her hips.

"But the northern woods are indeed dangerous. Evil comes from there," Yuniko said with a worried expression. Malin grabbed her hand in a calming gesture.

"I know, but she will not let it into her head."

"She is too much of a child," Malin stated. "But I guess she is more fun than that sister of hers. She was just sitting on her ass giving orders to left and right. She is the kind of ruler to sit on a throne in a kingdom of chaos."

Yuniko couldn't help but giggle at Malin's version of the beautiful older princess of France.

"Tea has a golden heart," she defended the older fellow princess. "But I agree that she is yet too much of a child."

"I can not wait to see her face when I explain she will not become the queen," Atemu said sarcastically with a tired sigh. "I will be king, but you, my sister, will be the queen."

"How is that?" Malin asked curious. "I know both you and Yuni will take over the throne, but I have yet to understand how."

"I am the heir to this kingdom, and I will marry the day father pass away or decide to step down from his throne, and at the same time I will be coroneted to king. But Tea will not be queen, because Yuniko was born to rule this kingdom, with or without me. She will be coroneted with me the day I marry. You will see it all when the day comes."

"I still am not sure if I understand, but I will wait and see since it seems to be the smartest thing to do."

"Talking of which. Brother, you wish to join me the entire day?"

"If you allow me to," Atemu smiled.

"Then you will help me pick two guards and we will go hunting robbers this evening."

* * *

That evening, with Samuel, a skilful young soldier and Atemu, Yuniko and Malin went for the stable to pick out horses that was fast but looked just a little of lower class. Yuniko had decided that they should pretend to be upper-class travellers. It was wide known such could borrow the king's horses to travel faster to the nearest inn, but a soldier always had to follow to make sure the horses returned. 

Yuniko chose a rather small but strong black and white horse with eyes of wildness, her favourite horse Darkness. He was a little harder to tame than the others, and the young princess had made it her duty to keep that untamed nature in him. Malin took her own horse, Sunset, a grey mare with wise, black eyes and black mane. Atemu, as Yuniko, was attracted to the wilder horses, and he was as good with them as his younger sister. He locked eyes with a dark bay named Shadow, a mighty horse who only let Atemu and Yuniko ever ride him. The young bay loved the young princess as every other animal in the kingdom, and he had deep respect for the prince. But he looked a little wilder than any of the other since he often refused to let the stable men brush him. The other two found much kinder horses that were easy to lead and had experience of battle. Samuel would play the role as a guard of the 'travellers'.

"Are you ready?" the princess asked as she sat on her horse, skilfully manoeuvring him to move as she wished.

"As ready as I can possible be, milady," the young soldier Hermes said with his eyes shining from excitement. He had never done something like this before.

"As am I," Samuel said.

"We all are, sister," Atemu said softly after a silent agreement with Malin, his hood shadowing his eyes from the afternoon sun, as well as hiding the royal mark in his forehead.

"Then we will ride and solve this problem," Yuniko said and turned Darkness toward the gate and the other four followed in her tracks.

Malin glanced at the princess, dressed as a boy once again. Seemingly the young princess didn't really like dresses. Both girls were disguised as boys, having tied their chests as hard as a corset to hide their very female curves, especially Yuniko's. The deep blue cloak's hood covered her beautiful hair, which was tied up in a perfect wreath around her skull. Malin and prince Atemu had made three pigtails which they tied into one and then set up the wreath. Then there was the sword that gave even more respect to the already respectable princess. Even dressed as a boy Yuniko's mere appearance demanded respect.

Malin herself was not even half as respectable as her princess. She knew it, and had long since made it a part of herself. Her own outfit was as simple as the princess's, a white shirt, the blue tunic, deep blue cloak, grey pants and boots. Even Atemu looked more respectable than the others, even if he was even simpler dressed than the rest.

"Malik," Yuniko called her friend forward as the sunset coloured the western sky in crimson, gold and orange, to leave the east part of the sky in darkness only eased by the tinkling stars. She had sternly told all her fellows to call them by male names.

"Is something out of place, Yugi?" the nurse asked, careful to not allow her tongue's protest against the male name.

"Very much so," the princess said lowly. "I have a strange feeling, yet I can not say if it is good or bad. There is something about this group of robbers that does not feel right. Why attack only riders?"

"As your father said: only he, the church and the inn-owners have horses."

"I can not believe this is about only gold, it must be something more, but what?"

Malin knew what to do. The easiest way for the princess to think of any kind of solution was if she was asked questions. It was a game Yuniko herself had created. "What are we going after?" she asked slowly.

The princess sighed. "Robbers who only attack people riding."

"Riding what?" Malin asked. She knew she had to ask every kind of question, even if they seemed obvious.

"…Horses," Yuniko said firmly.

"Why horses?"

"Because horses are only owned by richer people… because they need the horses."

"They are after the horses?"

"Most likely," the princess said solemnly, having found the missing piece in the blurry picture she had painted in her head.

"What could they do with stolen horses?" Malin asked now more of curiosity.

"I will have to ask them why once we meet them," Yuniko said with a satisfied smile.

Atemu patted a restless Shadow in order to calm him. The young bay knew perfectly well what was up, and obviously the dark horse didn't like what he felt. Glancing up Atemu noticed also Darkness was uneasy and jumpy. The prince rode up to his sister's side.

"You have noticed?"

"Of cause I have. Darkness does not like the smells from ahead. Neither does Shadow."

Atemu cast sharp eyes at the shadows in the trees of the south woods that would soon surround them.

"The others are uneasy as well, but are not as eager to show it," Yuniko said after glancing back at her fellows.

"If I did not know better I would say they told you," Atemu said lowly in a joke.

"Their bodies and eyes are talking as much as your mouth, brother," Yuniko smiled at him.

Suddenly Darkness neighed and rose on his hind legs.

"Darkness, calm down," the young princess started, before she hushed softly at the nervous and more and more angry horse. He could feel something was ahead, something that would hurt the treasure on his back, but her soft hushing calmed him enough to stop awkward.

"Be careful," the princess said loudly, trying hard to sound male. "The horses sense danger. We better keep our eyes open."

Malin listened to every sound she could make out around her. She knew many thieves' way to communicate and how to make out them from the real sounds. Suddenly she heard what she had waited for.

Riding up to the princess in the lead they glanced at each other, she had heard it too.

Shadow's powerful body trembled with anger and the will to fight under Atemu. The prince had to lean forward and whisper in his animal friend's ear so the mighty bay wouldn't do something crazy.

Malin and Yuniko heard it, but not the other three; they were too busy trying to calm their horses. Yuniko yelled something, but it was too late. The robbers were already over them.

"Brother!" the princess yelled when she saw her brother be hit in the shoulder by an arrow.

"No time to think of him," said a voice in her ear.

Hissing the young princess managed to grab the leg of the man behind her and pull him off Darkness. The royal sibling's horses could no longer be controlled. The princess's sudden anger and anxiousness caused them to attack the attackers.

Malin threw a few knives at limbs and hands that were trying to grab her from different places. These robbers were used to climbing trees.

Darkness and Shadow kicked and bit at everything that was moving in order to protect their beloved princess. Two men had fallen victim for their blood thirst and more was to be if Yuniko did not manage to calm the battle soon.

"Malin, grab the youngest you see!" the princess called over the sound of battle. She totally forgot they were supposed to be boys, but no one reacted at the female voice.

Sunset looked at her back in confusion when she no longer felt the weight of her friend and rider; Malin was no longer on her back. The grey horse looked over the mass of green clad men with cloth-covered faces and shadowed eyes, but she couldn't make out her rider.

Someone grabbed the mare's reins and tried to lure her with a red apple, but Sunset was not interested. She just wanted her rider back.

When the man realized the beautiful mare would not take his apple he simply let it slide back into his pocket and forced the horse away from the place.

"**LET GO OF _MY_ HORSE YOU BASTARD!"** Malin yelled with the top of her lungs when she noticed her horse being dragged away from the rest of the battle.

The former thief girl had jumped up into the trees to be allowed free hands to grab the youngest one she saw, but in the trees she had been surprised to see the robbers was so few. Just two more of them sat in the trees, and they were not young. She knocked them out anyway since they sat with bows and arrows, aiming for the wild horses' eyes.

The man holding Sunset was almost knocked unconscious by a hard handle of Malin's knife. Sunset was overjoyed to see her rider again and happily nuzzled the nurse's chest.

Malin patted Sunset in a calming gesture before she lifted up the man by his cloths, just to discover it was no man, but a tall boy at her age.

"Princess!" the young girl called without thinking.

All fighting stopped almost immediately.

Shadow and Darkness jumped away from the robbers they had managed to kill and harm badly. Atemu had one of the older men in a firm grip and was not to let him go. What men who could still stand stood up and gave up any try to escape at the sight of their youngest in the blonde one's firm grip, a knife tightly pressed to the tall boy's throat.

Yuniko got off Darkness's back and gently patted his bloody muzzle before she went over to her friend and took over the boy.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked with her sword placed at the boy's shoulder. No one answered.

"I see you desire our horses, what for?" Yuniko tried again, the blade drawing slightly closer to her treat's throat. Still no one said anything.

Yuniko found this similar to the case of Malin's family, though they had tried to deny and sneak away. Malin picked up nervous side-glances between the men and knew this boy was someone important. The princess had known what to do all along.

"Malin," the princess said, her face cold and hard, but it was nothing but a mask. "Kill the child."

"No!"

The young princess looked at the man who had talked; one with long, crème-coloured hair and narrow eyes. The child's brother?

"Why not? Obviously the boy is not important to you by the way you risk his life to protect your reasons."

The man kept quiet, his eyes closed shut to not betray his feelings, but his furrowed eyebrow gave him away.

The princess nodded at Malin, who placed the half conscious boy at a tree and lifted a knife to stab his heart. Another nod from the princess and the knife lowered swiftly.

"Stop it, please, I will tell you everything!" the same man yelled as he fell to his knees, tears running down his sun kissed face.

There was a sound of a knife hitting wood and the man looked up at Malin and his brother, finding the knife in the hard wood a hair from the young boy's throat.

"I see nothing but hatred in the eyes of your fellows," the princess said. "Malin, take the boy, Samuel and Hermes tie these men between your horses. You," she looked at the man who had begged for the other's life. "Come with me."

Malin knocked the boy out so he wouldn't wake up and have a panic attack while on the horseback. She easily threw him up on Sunset's back before joining him, the grey mare happy to have her friend back behind her.

Samuel and Hermes tied the robbers' hands together with a long rope before tying them to their saddles. Yuniko helped her brother pull out the arrow from his shoulder and tying a rag from her cloak around it to stop the blood. The man silently stood by with his head lowered in shame and self contempt. When Yuniko sat back up on Darkness's back she had to calm the suspicious horse down before reaching out a hand to the other to join her.

* * *

"You need money?" Malin asked, trying hard to not yell in anger at the man, who they had found out was named Jocke. It was almost midnight, but Yuniko had ordered to have this done before sunrise. 

"There is a hundred ways to gain money," Atemu said as a matter of fact. "Why lower yourself to stealing?"

"My father is a man of pride," Jocke said lowly. "But he is too lazy to get himself a work. We are a big family with mostly men, and he forced us all to go out and steal every horse we saw and take them to him so he can sell them to the governors of England. They pay much for good horses, which means fast gold."

"So to protect his pride he sold yours? Am I right?" the young princess said, looking out of the window in the small room they occupied. Her father was furious to say at least when Atemu came back hurt and wanted to kill the group of robbers right there, but Yuniko's eyes and Atemu's unique ability to make the man think instead of react had demanded him to calm down and think clearly.

"Right, your majesty."

Atemu sensed his sister's distress and caressed her hair gently. He couldn't stand seeing his little treasure like this. Her innocence and purity could not accept this rough truth.

"Why would a father ever sell his sons' pride to save his own?" the girl asked, her eyes crying though no tears were visible.

"I do not know, dear sister," Atemu answered lowly.

"Your majesty?" Jocke asked very carefully. "What will happen to us now?"

Atemu saw his sister was too distressed to make the decision, so he answered in her place.

"You and your men can stay here until your wounds have healed. Then I will send with you an escort back to where you live and take your father here to judge him. I can not let him stay as your family's head. What will happen to him, father and I will decide."

"And my little brother?"

"Will stay here," Yuniko said softly. "If he wishes to he can come back to you when this story is over, but for now he will stay here, where he is safe."

Jocke nodded his head, trying hard to not let his nervousness show.

"No one will hurt your little brother," the prince ensured the other. "As long as he is under my sister's protection nothing can harm him."

"But… you were about to kill him."

"I could never kill a child," Yuniko said as she turned to face him and Malin joined her at the window, smiling apologizing at the other man. "I needed to know your reasons since you are disturbing the harmony in my kingdom. I have promised myself to never let my people fear anything as long as I am alive."

Jocke heard the truth in the young princess's words and saw the wish in her clear eyes. He bowed for her, believing what she said. Turning to Atemu he bowed again, thankful that he was trying to solve his problem.

"Please take good care of my little brother," he said.

"Forgive me," the young princess said instead of giving an answer.

"For what?" Jocke asked surprised.

"For choosing such violent horses," Yuniko whispered, shame washing over her at the thought of the men Darkness and Shadow had killed. "Animals are very eager to defend me, I should have known this would happen."

Jocke stared at the little princess hiding in her brother's arms, but then a kind, forgiving smile grazed his face. "You are forgiven."

* * *

"What is your name?" Yuniko asked the very nervous young man. It was morning and he had been called to a room by a grey-eyed slave who told him the princess wished to talk to him. 

"I… my name is Joey… uh, your majesty."

Malin tilted her head slightly. This boy obviously was not used to this kind of situation. Yuniko tried her best to sound as friendly and bright as she could, but the knowledge of her position as a princess was causing the young blond nothing but uneasiness.

"Very well, Joey," Yuniko said as she took in the other's looks. Not until now she could get a good look at him. Joey was a pretty, blond teenager with kind, honey brown eyes. His face was kissed by the sun and made his bright blond hair seem a little pale, but otherwise he looked good. "My name is Yuniko of Scotland. You are from now on under my protection."

"Huh?" Joey said unintelligently.

"Milady means that with your family's crime you are not safe from anything around you now when you are exposed. With Yuniko's protection you are safe from everything, including mosquitoes."

Joey looked over at Malin, who stood at the door to just watch what happened from there.

"You…?"

"Malin," the nurse presented herself, walking up to the other and smiled friendly. "I am the princess's nurse, so there is no need to be formal towards me. A mare servant has no title."

Joey nodded and relaxed a little when he stood in front of someone not as high as the princess.

"I can place you among the other servants if you wish," Yuniko said while looking out of the window at the small village where the servants and slaves lived. "Tough I believe it is far under your dignity to be a servant. You have to stay here until your father is judged. After that you will decide for your own if you wish to return home or stay here."

"You will kill my father, will you not?" Joey asked the princess darkly, for a moment forgetting she was the princess.

"I leave the decision to my father, he is still the king. Your father's crime is to have sold his sons' pride to save his own when he had no more money to keep it. It is a serious crime, but if his sons forgive him, father has no right to execute him."

"So you will let father live?"

"If you all forgive him. But he can not stay as the head of your family, nor can he keep his title, which is already decided with your brother Jocke's agreement. Who will take your father's place is up to you."

Joey suddenly remembered Yuniko was the princess and looked away from her, mumbling apologizes.

Yuniko still looked at the courtyard below her when she saw the younger guards training in their corner of the yard.

"You wish to be a soldier?" she asked innocently.

Joey and Malin both stared at her.

"Well, I can not help but notice you have the body of a fighter, you are muscled and somehow keen. I see it in your eyes. My soldiers surely can teach you to fight. And I will gladly help as well."

Joey stared with eyes wider than Yuniko's own. "You must be kidding me," was all he managed to say.

"Of cause not," Malin said as if it was the most obvious in the world. "Milady is the castle's best fighter."

Joey totally lost his jaw. "You… But… I mean… You… You are a _girl_," he finally managed to say. "You are the _princess_!"

"Does that have to mean I am completely harmless?" Yuniko asked with an amused smile.

"Uh…"

"Come, I can present you to the masters and you can make your decision then if you wish them and me to teach you how to fight."

"Um… princess?" Joey said uncertainly as the young treasure walked towards the door.

"Yes?"

"Why are you so kind to me? I come from the southern parts of Scotland, and the governor is really stern towards us. Why are you acting so kind? What are you trying to do?"

"Do you want me to be mean towards you?" Yuniko asked surprised.

"No."

"Then why are you complaining? I have no desire to take away your family or freedom. And about governor Duke, he is very strict with rules, but otherwise he is a very good man."

"You know the governor?"

"Of cause I do, they come here once a year to report. I ensure you they are all good men, with different goals and ways of life. Father is even stricter with them to be sure they are loyal towards him though."

Joey followed the princess and Malin out. He had often heard his father talk about the king and the royal family as complete jerks and blackguards. Being the child he was he of cause believed everything. But now when he met the youngest of the family, and she proved to be really kind, he didn't know what to believe.

"Joey?"

The blond jumped at the voice and looked straight into Malin's purple orbs. "What?"

"Go ahead, Milady," Malin said to Yuniko who waited for them a few steps ahead. The princess smiled and nodded before she walked off. Joey had to admit she moved gracefully and with royal pride in her entire being.

"Your father does not talk well about his majesty and the princess, does he?" Malin asked quietly. Joey suddenly felt very guilty for some reason. "My family was no admirers either. They hated the royalty as illness."

"Why is that? My father hates the king because he can not sell his stuff. It is against the law he says."

"My family was travelling thieves."

Joey had to pick up his jaw from the basement and set his eyes back into their holes before he could talk again.

"B-b-but… I thought… you are the nurse… that is not… I mean…"

"I came here ten years ago. Father had in thought to lighten the king's chest of gold a bit. But the princess scared him off."

Joey stared after where the princess had vanished. The thought of her scaring a bunch of thieves off were very hard to imagine as he had talked to her in person.

"Milady is almost always surrounded by animals. Birds, dogs, horses, even the beasts of the woods watch over her like bodyguards. Prince Atemu told me it was because Yuniko is so pure. My twin sister tried to trip my princess when I came here, but she noticed her foot and stopped. By doing that she saved all our lives, because if sister really had tripped her, the dogs and Guardian would have ripped us all apart and eaten us."

"The dogs? Guardian?"

"There are dogs living in the yard serving as pigs and guards, they eat everything, and Guardian was a golden eagle who always watched over my princess since before I came here, he is dead now though. As you can guess they were the ones scaring my father."

Joey nodded, thinking he understood, but his brain started to spin with questions.

"My family was rough towards me since I was not as perfect as my sister. But then Yuniko came, and she saved me, showing me that not everyone wished to hurt me even if they knew of me being a spy. Prince Atemu I also own my life to, he saved me from being beaten to death. The king and Atemu punished them all very hard for trying to kill me and treating the prince. But I was saved. The princess took me in and to pay back I always stay by her side. I have asked Atemu too what I could do as payback, he said I should stay close to his sister as she is the one he loves most."

"So… are you trying to tell me to trust the princess?"

"Very much so, since the story of mine should not be told. But I trust you to keep my secret from anyone."

Joey nodded and followed Malin as she started to walk again.

"Miss Malin!" someone suddenly called and the nurse turned to Mokuba, the same slave who had brought Joey to the princess this morning. "Help me, help me."

Mokuba hid behind the surprised nurse as he giggled from naughty amusement.

"**MOKUBA! I KNOW YOU ARE HERE SOMEWHERE! COME OUT RIGHT NOW! I WILL CUT YOUR HEAD OFF!"**

Malin fell over with laughter as she saw the object of Mokuba's affection run around a corner with a broom lifted over her head.

"**I GOT YOU NOW MOKUBA!"** the young errand girl screamed and started to chase the other once again.

"What did he do?" Joey asked as the girl stopped for a second to catch her breath.

"That jerk lifted my skirt!" the girl said loudly and pointed in Mokuba's direction who stood sniggering in the corner, waiting for her to run after him again. Malin was by now crying from laugher and had to support herself against the wall.

"You are so cute Rebecca," she laughed before the girl saw Mokuba make a face towards her and took off after him with her face red from anger and embarrassment.

"Young love," Malin said once she had calmed down. "They are so cute together."

Joey could just shake his head at the strangeness of it all as the two of them once again started to walk. When they went out into the bright light of the sun they met a giggling Yuniko with a very clingy Mokuba hanging around her waist and a death-glaring Rebecca standing further away. The broom was taken over by the dogs which were busy having a wild tug-of-war with it.

"I love you so much, Lady Yuniko," Mokuba stated as he nuzzled her stomach playfully, smiling like a silly.

"Be careful, your pretty girlfriend may hear you," Yuniko giggled as she patted his hair amused.

"**I AM SO NOT THAT PERVERT'S GIRLFRIEND!"** Rebecca yelled, scaring the dogs off, which took the broom and ran away from the angry girl.

"But you are pretty," Mokuba said smiling, if it was possible, even broader.

"Now, now. I would like to have my sister back without being any leaner," Atemu chuckled as he approached the cute scene.

"But if I let go I will not be protected anymore," Mokuba said, trying to imitate Yuniko's puppy eyes.

"Too bad I do not fall for that when it is not my sister doing it," Atemu smiled, though he tried to be serious.

Mokuba glanced over at Rebecca who stood ready to chase him again the moment he let go of the princess's waist.

"Wish me good luck," the errand boy said before he let go and ran with a yelling Rebecca in his heels.

"The perfect couple," Tea said as he made her way over to them.

"Come Joey, the guards are waiting for you," the princess said and nodded at the boy and Malin to follow her.

* * *

It was the night before her birthday when Yuniko awoke with a jolt. There it was again, the feeling of wrongness; evil. And once again it was so unnervingly close. 

"Not again," she whispered as she walked to her open window to stare out into the night. She hoped she would catch a glimpse of what was out there, but saw nothing. She felt the evil moving beyond the northern woods and how it restlessly pulsed out its energy. The new moon and lack of stars made the night so dark Yuniko could hardly see her own hand.

"Pure princess," she suddenly heard a voice whisper above her.

"Who are you?" she asked unfazed, unafraid.

"My beautiful young love. How come you can sense us?"

"You are a threat to my kingdom and my family. Of cause I can sense you then."

The owner of the voice seemed to nod at her statement. "My love," he said, moving so that he was beside the window. "Beautiful princess."

Yuniko sensed rather than saw the dark hand that reached out to touch her face. "Do not dare to touch me," she hissed, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "I can hurt you if I have to. But why do you call me your love?"

"Is it not obvious?" the voice said, and now the eyes of the man emerged from the darkness, or rather the one poisonous green eye the man had. It was not the same who had watched her earlier. "I love you."

"Stay away from me," Yuniko hissed sharply and backed away from the window and the man.

"My love…"

Yuniko was angry. How dared this man talk to her like this? How dared he say he loved her when she could feel nothing but evil and coldness from him? His heart held no love, but desire.

"Light, come to me. Lit my path and hunt the darkness away," she mumbled, summoning the magic she had hidden in her heart.

The man in front of her hissed and covered his eyes as the princess's body started to shine with the light of her heart. It was a tall man with dark crimson red cloths and silver hair pulled back into a low ponytail. His one eye blazed with anger before he jumped out of the window to flee from the bright light that came from the princess's heart.

"Never come again," she whispered into the night.

The young treasure was not able to go to sleep after the incident and therefore heard the sound of Malin running towards her door two hours later.

"Milady, you have to come right now. My gift can not wait."

Yuniko had already dressed when Malin entered, to the nurse's slight surprise, but it didn't matter anyway. With a smile Yuniko took Malin's eager hand and ran with her through the castle and out in the cool night air. Her nurse dragged her with her towards the little hut beside the stable. The stablemen took mares during their pregnancy there so they could give birth in peace.

"Kay, we are here," Malin called softly into the hut and a very sweaty Kay came out to them with a little lantern in his hand.

"Milady, please be quiet when you enter. She is major tense now."

Yuniko nodded confused. She had no idea of what her gift could be. But as she entered she spotted Midnight, the most beautiful mare in the whole kingdom, on the hay about to give birth to her foal. Yuniko had noticed her getting round and aggressive a few months ago, but why was she brought here? Kay and another stableman could take care of this without her. But there were no other there but Malin, Kay and herself.

"Can I help?" she asked, a little unsure of what to do.

"No, Miss Malin and I can take care of it, but you should watch closely," Kay said with a mischievous smile. "Besides, Midnight seems to be calmer now when you are here."

Yuniko just nodded and stood on a safe distance to watch. She had never seen any of her animal friends giving birth before, so this was rather exciting for the young treasure.

Midnight neighed tiredly and started to push the foal out of her. Malin helped by firmly pushing on her fat stomach and Kay by taking the frail life when it came out. It had the colour of pure silver with a mane of pale gold.

"It's a girl," Kay whispered as he laid the new life with her mother.

"Malin," Yuniko suddenly asked. "Why did you bring me here?"

"To watch as your gift was born," Malin said with a kind smile. "You seemed so depressed when Starlight died, so Kay and I decided to give you a new horse, which is yours from birth. Midnight has already agreed."

Yuniko turned her bright eyes toward Midnight, who watched as her foal tried to stand up on her thin legs. Then the beautiful mare moved her eyes and met the princess's gaze. The dark eyes shone with motherly pride and wisdom. She stood and slowly walked over to the princess, the foal following straggling.

Yuniko and Midnight had a silent agreement. The foal was the princess's to rise, but as long as she needed her mother it would stay with her.

"Then her name will be Unicorn," Yuniko whispered, and Midnight nuzzled her affectingly as to say it was a fitting name for her foal.

"Midnight and Shadow," Kay said quietly as he looked closely at the new life. "Who could have thought it to be such a light colour of their offspring?"

"Midnight knew from the moment she looked into Shadow's eyes the foal she would have with him would be born for me," Yuniko said as she lovingly caressed the mare's soft muzzle, using a little of her magic to understand the horse's reasons. "Shadow knows it too."

Malin felt her lips smile in tenderness at the sight in front of her. Yuniko was really happy about her gift, it was seen in her eyes which burnt and sparkled with new life, love and passion.

"Thank you Malin and Kay. I love you."

Kay blushed deeply, though he knew the princess didn't mean it the way he wished.

"You should return to your room now, milady," Malin said softly. "Joel would be disappointed to see that you are not there to receive his present."

"Yes, of cause," the princess said from where she greeted her newborn friend. "Take care," she whispered to Unicorn and Midnight as she left.

Yuniko kept the loving smile on her face all the way back to her room, the encounter with the one-eyed man already forgotten.

"And you thought Joel's gift would be any better than yours?" Yuniko asked with a smile that told her nurse she could not believe anything was better than Unicorn.

"I know how much you love animals, everyone does. And Kay somehow knew Midnight would give birth to it in time for your birthday, my princess."

"She is wonderful," Yuniko said dreamingly. "I am sure she and I will be the best of friends."

Malin pouted slightly.

"Do not make that face, you know I love you too," the princess said, noticing her friend's face. "You will forever be the friend I love the most."

The young nurse smiled happily at her best friend's words and blushed slightly at the thought of Kay, whose dream was to hear those words with a deeper meaning. The only one who stood closer to the princess's heart than Malin was Atemu.

At the arrival to the young treasure's room the sun started to rise over the eternal horizon. The red light of the treasured, burning globe that created the day turned Yuniko's sky blue eyes into amethyst.

At the sight of the open window though, Yuniko remembered the nightly guest she had had and made a mental note to once again tell her father and brother about it.

But suddenly something caught the princess's eyes. It was a bird that aimed for her window from below, from the courtyard. For the second time this morning Yuniko was at a loss of words as Joel's present landed in her window.

"A golden eagle," she whispered and went up to the still very young king of the sky.

The eagle's eyes were clear and keen, his youth's curiosity shining in them. He was eager to learn more about the world he lived in, but right now he was more interested in his new mistress. His feathers were lighter than Guardian's had been and his beak were a little more yellow.

A knocking on the door and Yuniko answered automatically. Joel came in with a satisfied smile on his face.

"His name is Mini guard, but that is what I call him," he said and peeked mischievous at the wide-eyed treasure. "Her majesty can call him whatever name she can come up with."

"Why?" the princess asked breathless.

"I noticed Guardian's retreat. I looked for a long time to find another guardian for you, since I got slightly nervous to now know you had no Guardian to watch over you anymore."

Yuniko turned back to the eagle, her eyes softening quickly. "He is not Guardian," she said to Joel, who blushed in misunderstanding. "He is someone else, someone who is actually bound to me."

"Huh?" was the only thing Joel could mouth.

"You never noticed? Guardian watched over me simply because he wanted to, not because he was obligated to. He was grateful I saved his life, and in return he defended mine. He even spared me from the pain of seeing his dead body."

Yuniko reached out a hand and carefully patted the eagle's neck, he in return playfully nipping her sleeve.

"Is he not desired, milady?" Joel asked insecure.

"He is," Malin answered in Yuniko's place. "Milady is just stating facts you have misunderstood."

"He is Sky," Yuniko said after looking into the eagle's eyes and communicated with him, which the young eagle found very interesting and showed his eagerness by spreading his wings and lifting one foot at time as if trying to walk closer to her, though it was not possible.

"It is the perfect name, your majesty," Malin and Joel said in union.

Sky squeaked in his throat as he moved to sit on the princess's arm. "It is a very wonderful start for a wonderful day," the princess stated.

* * *

Night fell and so did many eyelids, having celebrated the now fourteen years old princess's birthday since noon, slave and nobleman alike. Yuniko had chatted away her day with Joey, who was now in training to be a soldier, which he had decided to fulfil before he went back home again just because one of the in-training soldiers had made fun of his thinner body. Kay had also talked with her about many things, mostly about horses, whish were something they both burned for. Kay's eyes lit up at the sight of a horse, as did Yuniko's, always had, always would. 

Malin had been at the princess's side most of the time, but she was also the one who knew the exact order of the very carefully planned day and had to go aside sometimes for advising. She had also talked to Kay, and he had confessed his painful love for the princess to her. Now that Kay fell asleep he felt a lot better to have it all off his chest for the time being.

Atemu also had been close to his sister most of the time, much to Tea's disappointment since she wanted to play around. He had given her a locket, which she promised both him and herself to never take off. Inside it the prince had painted a picture of himself. "So I can always be with you," he had said when he placed it in her hands.

The king had something just as personal in store for his daughter. The very small table painting that he had ordered two years ago now stood at the treasure's night table, supported by two legs that were attached to the frame. The picture was of himself and his two children at each side of the throne. It had taken so long for the artist to paint since he couldn't have the royal family there as models since it was supposed to be a surprise gift for the princess. He had in secret walked around the courtyard and drawn quick drawings with blue ink of the princess. But they weren't as perfect as he wished them to be, so her face wasn't really fair to the princess's true beauty.

Yuniko was still smiling softly when she finally fell asleep that night, long after the sun itself had gone to bed. But she hadn't been sleeping for long when she felt it once again, the wrongness in the air; the evil was there once again.

"No, not now," she whispered out loud.

But this time she couldn't feel it coming towards her room. It was on their way to…

"Oh my God," Yuniko whispered, and just as the words left her lips she flew out the door, running as fast as she could towards her brother's room, not caring about the eerie silence around her. The air was filled with a mist that should have made Yuniko faint or fall asleep, but for some reason she didn't.

When she had her brother's door in sight she saw Samuel outside his door lying sound asleep on the floor, bleeding from a wound in his forehead from his fall.

"Brother!" she called as she pushed the locked door with all her might, hitting it with her small fists. "Open up! Do not touch my brother!" she yelled with tears burning behind her eyelids.

Suddenly the door flew open and the princess was thrown at the floor. A cold hand clasped over her mouth and another over her eyes.

"Make no sound," a sooth whisper breathed in her ear, it wasn't the same from the night before. "Do not look, your brother wishes so." The hand over her mouth was removed.

"Brother, what is happening?" Yuniko said, her voice trembling from fear. Something was definitely wrong.

"Do not look at me, sister," Atemu's voice said, yet it wasn't really his voice.

"Brother?"

"I am so sorry, sister."

The one who held her down pressed a cold, male body against her back, both his hands slowly moving down from her face to her arms, on which she supported herself in her kneeling position. The being knew she wouldn't open her eyes.

"We had to do it, little human. We need something from you."

"What do you need?" Yuniko whispered.

"We need your tears. I have found the one who is your brother is the only one you entrust with your tears, therefore we had to use him."

"What have you done?" the princess whispered, her tears burning behind her closed eyelids.

"Sister, it happened the night you saved me," Atemu's voice said from somewhere. "He poisoned my blood, and now it has made me into one of them."

"What… are you now?"

"We are undead," the one at her back said, still caressing her arms up and down almost lovingly. "We have died, yet we are alive because of the poison in our blood. Our hearts can not beat. Our lungs need no air. All we know is our desire… and huger."

The hands caressed her neck now and cold lips tenderly kissed her warm skin.

"Stop that," Atemu hissed angrily.

"I have never been this close to such an innocent being," the soothing voice said in slight aw. "It makes me long to touch her. As do all humans. Have you not noticed?"

Yuniko heard her brother move in a corner behind her. "Noticed what?" Atemu growled.

There was no answer, but yet another sound, one of wings coming towards them. Yuniko recognized the aura of the one-eyed being that had visited her the night before.

"My, my. I have not said you could go so close to my love."

"Go away," Yuniko hissed, now very close to tears. She felt the man behind her press his cold lips against her neck once again and smirk darkly. The sharp fangs in his mouth almost pinching her skin.

"Have you touched her, Crow?" he asked, his voice as smooth as ever.

There was another, darker growl from the direction of the window.

"You have no right to touch my love. I am the one she will marry."

"You stay away from my sister," Atemu's voice said, his shadow telling Yuniko he had placed himself between the one-eyed being and her.

"Oh me, oh my," Crow said with a hint of amusement. "If it is not the one and only prince? One of us, are you now?"

"Stay away," Atemu hissed, dark energy coming from his being.

It got too much. Feeling the dark energies Yuniko knew her brother really was turned into one of them. The first tear rolled down her cheek, and after them followed a silent river of hot, pure tears. She never noticed the man at her back caught them all in a silver bowl.

The argument in front of her continued and she heard her brother and the one-eyed man start to fight. She could so clearly hear her brother's hisses of pain, and they made her cry even more. The one on her back just kept on caressing her arms and sides in a smoothing manner. Once he even was so bold he let one hand sneak under her arm to gently cup one of her breasts, but he quickly moved away from it.

"Hush, little princess," he suddenly whispered, acting as if the fight in front of them wasn't there. "You will ruin your beautiful face if you cry too much."

"Why do you need my tears?" the princess asked, not able to swallow her tears and grief.

"They help us survive. It is strange really. We, who are such dirty creatures, swimming in our sins covered with blood, we need the purity in you, which is mirrored in your tears, to survive."

"What are you?" Yuniko asked again.

"… There is no real name we call ourselves," he said, leaning forward and managed to kiss her jawbone. "But a human once gave us a name: vampire."

"Vampire?"

"You have heard the word before, have you not? It comes from the bats which live of blood. As do we. We feed of human blood, but I will not hurt your flawless skin. If I did it would not be flawless anymore."

"Stop that. I can not take anymore. Please stop!"

Atemu looked back at his sister's cry, and immediately Crow had him pinned on the floor, ready to kill him for good.

The man behind her suddenly left in a flash, and then there were the sounds of bone cracking.

"Crow, leave now. You better report to the lord about the night's hunt," the man said, his vice now colder than his body.

"I will kill the prince first," Crow hissed, both in anger and pain.

"I will kill you if you try."

Yuniko felt how her last tear fell, she had no more to cry.

"You are evil," she said, despise in her voice. "Your words are poison. If it is my purity you seek…"

The tree men stared at her trembling form, but it trembled out of anger, not of fear and crying.

"I will taint myself. I will make myself as dirty as you!"

"Sister, no!" Atemu gasped, shock evident in his voice.

"My love can not taint herself," the one-eyed vampire said with a sneer, though Yuniko couldn't see it. Her eyes were still shut closed tightly. "Such purity can not taint itself since there is nothing that can taint it."

Deep down the princess knew he was right, but before she had the time to think about it, there was another loud crash and the sound of bone cracking and someone screaming that inhuman high-pitch scream of pain.

"Leave now, Crow!" the still nameless man hissed with anger clear in his dark energies. "Or I will make sure you can never leave!"

Crow hissed with hatred expanding from his being, but he left with nothing but the knowledge that he had ever been there.

"You too, prince Atemu. You should leave before your sister decides to open her eyes," the other vampire said, his voice much softer this time and his aura gentler.

"Only if you promise my sister stays out of harm," Atemu said quietly, almost a hiss.

"You have my word she will not be harmed. Not as long as I am still undead."

There were the sounds of footsteps, Atemu's footsteps, then a sound of wings and he was gone, half of the young princess's heart with him.

The last one moved gracefully towards Yuniko, kneeled in front of her and cupped her face gently.

"Look at me, princess," he said in a soft whisper.

Hesitating Yuniko opened her eyes to look into the same blue eyes she had seen twice before, years ago.

"Do not taint yourself just because of this." His voice was soft and his eyes truly compassionate. "I just follow the lord's orders. After all I can not rest until my desire is complete, and it will never happen."

Yuniko was about to ask something again, when the vampire suddenly lowered his head and captured her soft, warm lips in a deep passionate kiss.

* * *

"**HONDA!"**

The young consul man fell out of his bed as the furious voice yelled at him.

"Collect the council and as many servants as you can. I want every man, child and woman in this castle in the great hall as soon as possible!"

The man never had time to see who it was yelling orders at him. It surely wasn't the king, and not prince Atemu. But he never got the time to wonder who it was when a servant entered his room with a hunted face.

"The princess is furious," he said with wide, scared eyes. "She yells that every single human inside the great wall shall gather in the great hall right away."

Yuniko rushed around in her ripped nightdress yelling at everyone in sight to get everyone into the great hall. On the way she met a very scared Malin.

"Milady, what has happened? Come and let me change your cloths."

"There is no time," Yuniko said, calmer now when she was talking to her nurse though her eyes still shot flashes in her fury. "I have important news. I have to tell everyone here about it."

Malin stopped and let her friend walk away towards her father's chamber. She had never seen the princess like this, and judging by the scared faces of the other servants, no one else had either.

After much fuss and guesses of why the princess was so mad, everyone, from slave to king, was stuffed into the great hall, which was the biggest room in the entire castle.

"Is everyone here yet?" Yuniko asked as she scanned the sea of people in front of her.

"Everyone but the prince and a few guards, Milady," Honda said from her side.

"Listen up everyone, I have a message," the princess called over the heads in front of her, raising it enough so everyone could hear. "My brother was killed tonight."

There were startled gasps all around her, Tea looked about ready to faint right there.

"My girl? How can you say such a thing like that?" her father shouted at her.

"For a few nights, spread out over years, we have been visited by evil beings. All the time they seemed to be after me, and they still are. They filled the castle with a magical mist that made everyone fall asleep. I guess most guards have already found out as much."

Yuniko had found out Samuel, who had guarded her brother's door, and a few more down the corridor had died from the mist. It had been too strong where he had been standing. The inhabitants next door was saved by the walls and their own pillows, which they had their faces buried in.

"Tonight those beings made their move, which was supposed to hurt me the greatest. They killed Atemu and turned him into one of them; an undead. My brother is from tonight a living dead."

It got too much on poor Tea. She fainted with her face distorted with grief and shock. The same happed to the people with weak hearts in the hall.

"Still, this is not over. They called themselves vampires, human creatures which live of blood. I know there are not many humans living in the north from where I sense their dark energies, and the ones who lived there must already be dead, emptied of what blood they had. This castle is the closest place inhabited by humans that will be attacked next. But we can not send a warning to the people."

There were whispers and scared gasps all around, even from the king.

"My daughter, if we do not warn the people they will all be dead in no time."

"Warning the people will kill even more of them in less time," Yuniko called so everyone heard. "Telling the people about the vampires will cause panic and they will try to leave this land. But running will take us nowhere. We must stay and fight. We have to find some way to defend ourselves and the people, then, and only then, the warning about the vampires will be spread. If the people know how to defend themselves the risk of panic is not as big."

The princess's words made sense, but there was one among the others who had a more pained expression than anyone else. The princess was suffering, she saw it, and now when she needed her friend the most she couldn't be there. Without being able to be enough Malin didn't even try to stop the tears from falling.

"We will have no burial for prince Atemu," the princess said next, her voice not as steady. "I will let a stone be raised in front of the northern woods where everyone who wishes to can go and mourn the loss of my brother. Tell the villages outside the great wall prince Atemu have fallen ill, and in a few months he will be officially dead." The princess took a deep, silent breath. "Everything else that has to be done will be so, but not until morning. A lot has happened tonight and I am tired. Good night."

And with that the young princess walked away, her posture as proud and confident as ever, nothing giving away she was suffering. Malin let her go. Right now Yuniko didn't need a friend. She needed her father, or maybe even more, her lost mother.

* * *

Yami lay in his bed today even if he actually had school. There was a pain in his heart, and it shot through his entire being, leaving him completely numb. He stared unfocused into the ceiling, his eyes so lifeless as if he had lost his very soul. Jono had come over earlier with his books, but Yami had hardly even registered it and hadn't said anything, not words at least. 

His mother had come in too, but she hadn't said anything either. She just sat beside his bed, once in a while stroking his hair lovingly. When she left she had placed a tender kiss on his cheek and smiled softly before she left.

Suddenly a small sparkle of life lightened in his eyes though and he turned his head towards the black book lying innocently waiting on his night table.

He reached out for it, seeking answers for his sudden pain in it. He hadn't read much in it, just the first page and the one of the person's sister's fiancé.

But now he opened the book the wrong way, searching for the last written page. The last ten pages were clean, but then he found the last written page. It was written in haste, as if to just pull down the last river of emotions this book was filled with.

_Pain, regret, desire, hunger… it is too intense. I can no longer control it. The lord keeps whispering words into my ear and it is driving me over the edge of insanity. I am becoming one of his hungry pets. I have no control. I am losing it. Aku can not help me, the lord sees to it. No one can I trust. No one can I turn to but the lord who has me captured in a corner with no other way out but to fall into his arms._

_Save me. I will end up hurting her. I will lose my heart forever. Sister, I know you will never bring yourself to do what I so desperately need you to do. The lord will soon lead us into war. I know he has already sent you a message. Sister… it is you or me. Please. I beg all higher forces and powers I know for it to be me. Let your light defeat the lord and once again seal his evil._

_Sister. The lord is using all our desires to make us into beasts. Hungry beings with no own thoughts. Only Aku's desire is far out of his reach and is therefore the only one who is still somehow sane, but even he is losing control of himself. My desire is the greatest force the lord has against me. Sister, my desire is…_

The last bit was unreadable. The hand had spilled blood and ink over the last words so Yami couldn't read it.

Suddenly the book started to burn.

With a yell more of surprise than fear Yami threw it away from him. He saw the flames turning black and purple, before they rose and created a ring. Like a mirror.

Curious, Yami leant closer to the ring, the mirror to somewhere else. But with a sharp gasp Yami jumped back and the fire faded away along with the black book.

Yami's heart beat so hard he was sure his ribs would break at any moment.

"Oh my god," he whispered hoarsely to himself. "What was that?"

In the mirror he had seen two things: the desire the book couldn't uncover, and then the image of the female Yugi, her dying eyes staring at him as her naked, badly injured body were covered with darkness. She had said something that Yami hadn't heard, but still he knew what she had said: _"I love you anyway…"_

* * *

Well, that's it for this month (an maybe the next too) 

I am not sure if I may be able to update next month. I'll turn into the hosp for myself for some time (I don't know how long though) But to be sure you won't hate me for the rest of my days, I will probably make an early update the next month.

Don't forget to **REVIEW!** I love everyone who push the purple button and write me a little note.


	12. The Battle Princess

Now, here I am with a REALLY early update. If you read my profile I have said to only update around the middle of the month. But this middle of the month I will be at the hospital. And after that I will have to live with soup in almost two months. I will sure as hell drop in weight, and I'm already quite thin. Mom's gonna force feed me.

Well, about this chapter. It's not nearly as long as the previous one. This is as well as I can explaining the name title of the Battle Princess. Originally this chapter was supposed to be a part of the previous one. But I realized it would have been too long a chapter if I did. So I hope you don't hate me for it.

Finally enough of me, and on with the story.

* * *

**The Battle Princess **

Yuniko once again sat in her window staring south as she had done every morning since Atemu had received the letter from their mother. It was tree months since her brother had vanished along with the other two vampires. There was not one day that passed by without her thinking of that night at least once, especially in the morning when she sat staring at the cliff in the south.

"Milady?"

Malin carefully approached the still princess. Yuniko had during time of loneliness not changed much from the girl Malin had learnt to love so dearly, but there was a change everywhere else, a frightening change. It was the knowledge that the kind, innocent princess could get very angry. It had created a fear in the people that only grew whenever the young princess had a bad day. No one truly wanted to see the princess mad ever again.

"You remember I once told you I wished my people to fear nothing in my kingdom?" Yuniko asked, not turning her eyes from the cliff.

"Of cause I do," Malin said softly. Even she was afraid of the princess's mood nowadays. And she hated it.

"So what will I do now?"

"What do you mean, Milady?"

"You fear me," Yuniko said with sadness in her eyes, enough to break the heart of a heartbreaker. "I can not live with the fact you are afraid of me, yet I can not end my life. The kingdom still needs me."

Malin almost gasped for air as guilt rose like water above her ears. It had been three months… and still the moment Yuniko had been angry was so fresh in everyone's minds. What could possible be done about that?

"Have Lady Tea said anything?"

"No, nothing. She is totally changed from that night."

Tea had lost her voice the moment she fainted when Yuniko announced Atemu's "death". Lisa and her apprentices tried their best to help her gain her life sparkle back, but it seemed to be in vain.

"Right now she is too upset and scared," Yuniko said, still not turning around. "Everything here reminds her of my brother, she really loved him."

"Then what shall we do for her. What can you do when everyone is too afraid to see the reason?"

"Lady Tea still mourns too much to be scared of me. I know what she is in need of most right now."

"Milady?"

"You will still be with me, Malin?"

There was a fear in Yuniko's voice. A fear so intense it couldn't be described with simple words. Her face was still gentle and smiling sadly, but her eyes screamed of pain and fear, and maybe regret.

"I will be with you always," Malin whispered, wishing nothing but to her friend's fear to go away and her smile to be the same, happy one from before.

Yuniko softly embraced her nurse, and Malin instantly relaxed. The princess's body was as warm and her embrace still as loving as before. She hadn't changed. She only bore a great sadness in her heart now.

* * *

Soon they stood outside princess Tea's door and Yuniko gently knocked at the hard wood. It opened slowly and Tea's dull eyes looked carefully at them from the narrow opening. 

"Lady Tea, may we enter?" Yuniko said softly, handling the older woman with care.

Tea simply nodded and let them in. She closed and locked the door after them. Malin stood by the wall and Yuniko sat in a chair.

"I have thought about your situation for a long time," Yuniko started softly. "You mourn, I know as much. And you have changed so much it scares me."

Tea silently stood by the door looking at her feet to not show how hurt she was.

"I have figured you can not stay here anymore. If you wish, I will make sure to escort you back home to France. Since there is nothing more that binds you here I believe it is the best for you. Besides, it would crush me if the vampires hurt you too."

Tea looked up at her with wide eyes. Yuniko smiled kindly at her. Tears of appreciation rolled down the French princess's pale cheeks before she rushed to her lover's sister and cried out in her lap.

Malin watched in silence. Yuniko knew her people so well, and she cared for everyone. How could anyone be afraid of her? But she guessed it was the mare knowledge of an angry princess. But that night Yuniko had all right to be angry, sad and frustrated. She had helplessly witnessed the one she loved the most be taken away from her to never come back.

* * *

That same night an escort stood ready to take the princess of France back home. 

"I have sent a letter to your father with the explanation of your return, but not the whole story. It is up to you if you wish to tell him or not," Yuniko said as she followed her friend to the gate where the carriage waited.

"Merci, Mademoiselle Yuniko," Tea said weakly, she even managed to smile towards the younger. "I appreciate everything you have done for me. I know you love your frère so much. You should have done what I did. But I guess you are so much stronger than I am."

"I have to be strong," Yuniko said softly. "The kingdom needs me, now more than ever since my brother vanished. I am the only one who can take over the throne now. I can not give in to grief and sorrow."

Tea nodded her head in understanding, wishing she could be as strong as Yuniko and keep herself from crying.

"I will always remember you, and if I ever marry and have children I will tell them about you."

"You flatter me, Lady Tea. I wish you all luck on your road home."

Tea gently grabbed Yuniko's shoulders and kissed both her cheeks as a goodbye greeting. She smiled at her before she entered the carriage and the guard closed the door.

"Milady," the head-guard Adam said carefully. Yuniko turned her calm, questioning blue eyes towards him. "Are you sure we should do this? I mean… if we find a cure and are able to get the prince back…"

Malin noticed everyone around tense up as Adam mentioned Yuniko's brother. No one had dared to even think about him when she was close.

"If there was a cure I would have found it by now," Yuniko said calmly. "There is no cure against death, and Atemu will not come back to us. But either way; Lady Tea can not stay here where everything she sees reminds her about what she has lost. It is the best for her as well as her family. She is not safe here anymore."

The atmosphere eased up and Malin could almost hear the wind itself sigh in relief. Adam nodded and sat up on his horse. The journey to France would take two months and in the new, insecure times no new guards followed on this one. The men were middle-aged, used with weapons and blood. They could easily defend princess Tea if needed. Still Yuniko couldn't help but feel a little worried about her friend.

"Send me a letter once Lady Tea is back home in safety," she added to the head-guard.

"Of cause, your majesty," Adam said and smiled a little. "I wish I could tell you there is no need to worry. But I will do anything in my power to get Lady Tea, and then ourselves, back home, safe."

"Thank you. With all my heart I wish you good luck. And be sure to come back to me."

Adam smiled a little broader at her before he ordered the escort to get moving. Yuniko and Malin stood at the gate and watched them leave until it closed.

"She is already relived," Yuniko said. "She needed to get away from here."

Malin simply nodded and stepped closer to her friend and princess. "Let us return to where we are home. Even if you would feel much better if you were somewhere where prince Atemu's memory was not around, I know your place is here."

This time people around them gasped and backed away from the two. Malin saw the sparkle of hurt and despair in Yuniko's blue depths, but she stayed as calm as ever.

"Of cause, Malin. I will never leave my kingdom."

The princess and Malin returned to their chambers. The two now shared a bigger room since Yuniko couldn't sleep alone anymore. If she did, nightmares would hunt her into insanity. But behind them they left a lot of rumours. Yuniko had not reacted as everyone had believed at the mention of her brother's name. It confused them somewhat, but also left relief after the fear they had felt for the princess's wrath.

The day after princess Tea's departure the whole castle relaxed again and everything went back to normal. As normal it could get with the prince missing and the king much more thoughtful than before.

* * *

The year passed and winter embraced the land in the last days of October. Yuniko and Sky played a lot in the towers in order to get more used to each other. Yuniko had pushed both him and Unicorn aside slightly when her brother disappeared. But now she paid them more attention than they actually needed, and still made it go around with her duties. The king was so deep in though these days it was hard to get him to work, which meant Yuniko did most of it on her own. Unicorn was growing into the same beauty as her mother, and Sky was the fastest king of heaven anyone had seen. 

Sky made himself a nest in the same tower as Guardian had once lived in, and from there greeted his mistress in her window every morning.

Unicorn was as wild as her father and refused to let anyone but the princess near her. Atemu's death had been announced and the kingdom mourned silently.

Yuniko was still silently waiting for her mother's return. Every morning she sat in her window, which in this room aimed south instead of east. Malin had long since forgotten about her suspiciousness that day when they had met Joey.

The blond had decided he wanted to stay in the castle and join the knights. He had met the kingdom's governors in person and had even talked to Duke, who his father spited so much, and found him a really good man, just as Yuniko had said.

Mokuba and Rebecca still served in the castle running errands, though both of them were now teenagers. They refused to be moved into a higher position. Mokuba visited his friend and princess as often as he could and had named himself her little brother, which Yuniko just laughed at.

Kay still lived in the stable, watching the treasure from afar and loving everything she was. Yuniko silently feared he would once fall victim for the vampires, but said nothing about it.

It was winter now and close to Christmas. The castle was decoded as it had always been with candles, little stars and a huge Christmas tree in the throne room where the celebration would be held.

The king did nothing but worrying his daughter. He didn't eat much and always seemed to be in deep thought. Yet he did not step down from his throne to let his daughter take over the kingdom and he was still present on every meeting and listened, or pretended to.

"Princess Yuniko," Honda started at a morning meeting in the beginning of December. "I have gotten reports of homeless, mostly women, east and west of us that has been found, emptied of their blood."

"It just means that the vampires are moving. Have no one found anything that can be used against them. We can not hide it from the people much longer."

"Your majesty, if we had found a defence we would not wait until a meeting to tell you," another council man said.

The princess sighed silently. The meeting ended shortly after and she went to see Sky in his tower. He had grown a funny fur of feathers to protect himself during winter. He looked so fat in it Yuniko found it amusing to look at him.

"Yuni," Malin said softly. "Which time of day do the vampires attack?"

The princess stopped absurdly. "Because they are creatures of the night," she answered, finding the answer right at that moment, after two years of thinking. "They can not live in daylight."

"So they are hurt by the light?" Malin asked.

"Have anyone talked to father Scot about this?" Yuniko asked instead.

"Who is father Scot?" Malin asked with wide eyes of confusion.

Yuniko turned right back to the room where a few of her council members were still sitting, thinking about the dilemma with the vampires.

"Why have no one thought of asking father Scot?" the princess asked the second she re-entered the room.

"Father Scot?" Honda asked surprised. "I heard he was out travelling. But that was some time ago, he might have come back."

"Contact him right now. I think I have found something."

The council was immediately alert and the princess had to tell them what she had figured out.

"I just realized they are creatures of the night. I have figured they can make the night darker than it should be to let as little light as possible hit them. There may be a few of them that can take small doses of light, but that is it. But then again I think they are harmless against sunlight and not of fire."

"Then we are without protection anyway," the king said frustrated. "We can not save daylight during the nights."

"Not usual people, but may it be that I can. Using the magic I possess I can save the sunlight into some object, but I can not create too many. Find father Scot and bring him to me. I want to ask him if he knows something, anything. If I am right and the vampires actually are hurt by light I want you to bring me small things that anyone can carry around at any time."

The reaction of her words was amazing. Malin had never seen anyone from the council run before. Honda even took off his long robe in order to run faster. He was still young and had lots of energy saved up in his slender body. Some of the others followed his example.

"Daughter," the king suddenly said.

"I hear you father."

"Have you noticed it yet?"

"Noticed what?" Yuniko asked worried.

"Those monsters… they eat almost just women…"

Yuniko's first thought was to send Malin far away from Scotland. The last thing she wanted was to lose her friend. But she shook her head immediately and started to think rationally. "Why women?" she asked calmly, ignoring the furious beating of her heart.

The king shook his head slowly. "Those who took my son away, they were male, were they not?"

"Are you saying those vampires are male only?"

The king's face became more troubled than any of the girls had ever seen on him. "You should look in the library, I believe father Scot's grandfather left something there before he passed away."

"Father…" Yuniko didn't really know how to voice there rest of her thoughts. "Why have you not told me about this until now?"

"I believed it would not be needed," the king said heavily. "But it is. And when you find it… I hope you will understand."

Yuniko wished she could comfort her father, but the old man had never let anyone do so, not even his own children, and he had too little time left to give in. Simply she turned on her heels and left for the library.

"I wish there was someplace safe where you could live, my beautiful girl," the king whispered to the empty room and grief filled his eyes. "I truly wish there were… I was foolish from the very beginning… and now it is too late."

* * *

"Your majesty," a voice called and Yuniko turned around from the books she was searching through. 

"Father Scot. How happy I am to see you," she said and smiled relieved.

"You wish to know about the undead from north, do you not?"

"I take it you have talked to either brother or my father about it," the princess smiled calmly.

"Prince Atemu was very concerned about it when I talked to him almost ten years ago. I promised him to search through the holy library once again for something useful, but I found nothing. Yet I was determined to find something out so I travelled north with care. I was lucky to come back in one piece."

"Father, can you tell me something, anything, about the vampires' weakness?" the princess asked eagerly as she stood up from her chair. "I have figured they may dislike the light of the sun, but I am not sure."

"…The creatures are from the opposite of Heaven," Scot said solemnly. "I realized that when I met one of them once. So vampires are what they are called?"

"I have talked to two of them as well," Yuniko confessed, making Malin gasp and stare at her. Yuniko hadn't dared to tell Malin about that. "I asked them what they were, and they said a man from long ago gave them the name of the bats that live of blood."

"Oh, I have heard of these little creatures," Scot said calmly. "I have seen them too, but they usually hunt alone at night when they are hard to notice. Their skin and fur are black as the night and they use sound to navigate in the darkness."

"I do not know if I can call that a sound," Yuniko said with raised eyebrows in thought. "It can not be replayed by anything from instrument, human, animal or even nature itself. Believe me; I have sought for the sound everywhere else."

"Your majesty is as sharp as always. The sound of a vampire bat can not be replayed by anything else but themselves."

"Father, you said you just barely made it back in one piece," Malin said as the monk was about to lose himself in his own fantasies about whatever he was dreaming of. "Then you must have found out something about their weakness. You also said they come from the opposite of Heaven."

"Oh, that is right. My crucifix saved me."

"They are seeds of the Devil?" Yuniko said with eyes wide of anger and something else neither Malin nor Scot could put a finger on.

"I believe so," Scot said solemnly. "The one I met reacted as if the crucifix would kill him."

"Men again?" Malin asked, making the monk frown in confusion at her. "His majesty, the princess and I think that the vampires are male only. But how can that be? Without a female they can not ensue the surviving of their kind."

"They are undead," Yuniko explained. "They are dead, but still they are alive. They do not need to make more of their kind; they kill other men and transform them into one of them."

"But there must be a way to destroy them," Malin burst out in sudden frustration. "You can not kill what is already dead."

"True," Scot almost spat. "Without ways to put the soul into rest we can not destroy them."

"They are driven by desire," Yuniko suddenly said and her eyes went wide again. The other two stared at her. "The one who… who I talked to told me that he can not rest until his desire is complete… But if they are driven by desire… what are my brother's drift to stay alive?"

A heavy silence embraced the library as a mist as the young princess stared out of the window at what land she could see.

"Princess?" Malin started carefully.

"I listen."

"We should see to everyone in the kingdom to always carry around some kind of crucifix. It is the only thing we can do to save them."

"… By order of the royal family," the princess agreed.

* * *

Winter left with the darkness, and light returned to Scotland with the season of spring. For some reason the princess was way more relaxed the first days of gentle light. She stood in the courtyard one day and just let the soft light caress her being and calm her spirit. No one dared to interrupt her moments of piece in life. She had almost none anymore. 

Malin were with her all the time, never leaving her princess's side for anything. Sky happily rested on the treasure's shoulders and sometimes nibbled his mistress's hair, which by now reached her knees if she didn't have it tied up. The king wouldn't allow her to cut it since he was afraid for the blue waves would be gone if she did.

"They are moving again," Yuniko whispered one evening.

"What? Not now!"

"I think the sun has made them short-tempered. I will have to meet them before they reach the castle."

"Your majesty, you can not!" Malin burst out loudly. "Not without me."

"Miss Malin? What happens, your majesty?" a nervous and jumpy slave asked carefully with fear filled eyes."

"No, we are just arguing," Malin calmed the boy, who bowed deeply and left.

"As you wish Malin, but keep it close to me. If something was to happen to you Scotland would have to search for a new princess as well."

Malin blushed slightly in shame and embarrassment and followed her friend to their room to change. She knew she meant a lot to the princess, she shouldn't ask to be in danger.

"Mokuba," Yuniko said as she sensed her younger pretended brother nearby.

"Yes, Lady Yuniko," the errand boy said as he stepped out of the shadows of a vase.

"Tell father and the council I will take Malin and Unicorn out for a ride. Then please send a message to father Scot to meet me at the gate. I should be dressed and ready with the horses by then."

Mokuba nodded, bowed and left. But before he was out of sight he suddenly turned sharply and returned.

"Big sister, you will not be harmed, will you?"

Yuniko smiled tenderly at him and patted his dark head lovingly. "Of cause not, little brother. I will not leave you here alone."

The now fourteen year old errand boy hugged Yuniko tightly before he rushed off swiftly.

"He really is into the role as your little brother," Malin said a little amused by the smaller one's actions.

"He is my little brother… in our imagination," Yuniko smiled happily, something she did less and less often.

As soon as they reached the chambers and locked the door behind them Yuniko's baby blue dress fell off her shoulders to reveal the body of a goddess. She was fully grown now, even if she happened to be short. The skin was pale as a lily, but where her dresses left skin exposed it was darker, kissed by the eternal light of the sun. Her chest was just the exact shape and size for her lean body, but it was still enough for men to look down at them. Her hips were gently rounded and her back had that perfect curve that invited arms to wrap themselves around her waist. Yet no man had ever laid a hand on her, as far as Malin knew that is.

"Tie my hair in a pigtail," Yuniko ordered as she threw a comb at Malin, who skilfully caught it.

New underwear, pants, boots, shirt and gloves where put on as Malin worked with her friend's long hair.

"You can not let it grow much longer, Yuni. It is hard enough to keep it as perfect as before."

"I know Malin," Yuniko said calmly. "But father will not appreciate it."

Malin was about to say something, but regretted before she opened her mouth and pressed her lips together. "Here, all done," she said instead as she tied the silky hair together with a thin leather rope.

"Good," the princess said and Malin didn't have much time to react when she saw the knife in her princess's hand. Before she could even let out her protests she had the long pigtail in her hands, the rest of Yuniko's now shoulder length hair undid itself from the pigtail.

"Y-Yuni!" was all Malin could say.

"No buts, Malin. If I have to fight I can not have so much hair. It would only trouble me."

* * *

Unicorn was major nervous when she slowly made it past Atemu's death monument. There was a smell of death in the air, and all three riders could sense it along with their horses. 

"This can not be our vampires," father Scot suddenly said.

"I know," Yuniko said and stopped right behind the monument, facing the forest. "This is something else that lacks the ability to fly."

"Is there more to the evil than just the vampires?" Malin wondered and couldn't hide how scared she was.

"Stay behind me. I can not believe they will try to harm me. They said they need purity to survive."

"How can that be?" Scot wondered mostly to himself.

"I guess it is like light and darkness," Yuniko explained. "Purity can not exist if not able to compare with the opposite. I think those vampires need purity to compare to their sins."

"I believe it makes sense," Scot nodded in agreement. "Like light can not be without darkness, sins would not be there if purity was not."

"Here they come," Yuniko whispered as shadows started to move more like bodies in the woods ahead of them.

Unicorn was suddenly very still, her head low and ears drawn backwards. Sky fell from his position high in the sky and landed on his princess's shoulders, not lowering his wings as if ready to set off to the darkening sky once more.

Malin, Scot and their horses though was another story. Sunset wanted to rush back home in safety and Scot's horse was close to panic.

"May God show mercy," was all the two heard from the princess's lips before their horses turned and rushed back home on the princess's silent orders, Sky following them from above.

"**YUNIKO!"** Malin screamed over her shoulder to her beloved friend. "Turn, turn, turn!" she yelled at Sunset who ran as fast as her thin legs could possible carry her. All she had in her mind was the words the princess had whispered into her mind: Run!

Scot didn't have more luck with his horse. He knew the princess had asked for him because she thought she would need him. But as she too felt the intensity of whatever was coming their way she sent both him and Malin away in order to protect them. But who would protect her?

"**DO YOU NOT KNOW OF HOW GREAT IMPORTANCE YOU ARE TO SCOTLAND?"** he yelled backwards, but could say the princess either didn't hear or didn't want to listen. Either way it didn't matter since he, when his horse jumped over another stone, fell off its back.

"Father Scot!" Malin screamed, but was unable to do anything else. She would hurt herself more than badly if she tried to get off Sunset in this speed.

* * *

Inside the hospital room, a few minutes before Ryou, Bakura and Seto entered, Yugi suddenly jerked as if he was hit by something. The nurse who was there went up to him in order to calm him, but she also had other plans. She had seen the strange results of Dr Lou's tests of his blood and was there to take some of the boy's blood and give it to a professional gangster. She could get enormous amounts of money for this boy if the tests were true. 

Yugi's expression was of pain and anger as cuts and bruises appeared on his body. The nurse had a mask with gas ready in order to put him in deeper sleep, enough for her to take the tests, but it never came close to Yugi's face. He hit it right out of her hands. Yugi grabbed the surprised woman's throat, dragged her down to his face and suddenly opened his eyes to stare sharply at her.

"Do not touch me," he hissed dangerously, anger evident in his eyes. "You are beyond even my saving now."

He squeezed her throat hard. She tried to loose his grip and reach for the danger signal button, but something, or someone, suddenly grabbed her from behind and pulled her out of Yugi's grip.

"What were you thinking of doing?" a hissing voice whispered in her ear.

"I… I'm just checking on him. He is so deep into his dream he might hurt himself," she tried, but Yugi was already calming down, falling into his still dreaming again.

"No, my dear," the man holding her tightly whispered. "That was not your purpose. If it was you would not have those empty needles in your pocket," he showed them under her nose and his other hand moved up to her arcing throat.

"What... what do you want? Who are you?" she managed to whisper.

"I am the girl's father," the man said. "Yuniko, or Yugi as she is named these days, is my daughter."

The man laughed, at least it sounded like that, even if it was just as much a hiss.

"You're lying. The boy's father is dead."

"I know I am," the man said sweetly. "I have been dead for a long time. A very long time. Too many years for me to count. But now, just as then, I intend to protect my little treasure, even if it means taking away another's life."

That was the last words the nurse ever heard. The man behind her bit her neck with sharp teeth and she fell unconscious, and there she died a strangely painless death.

The man, the nurse and Yugi's injuries were gone the minuet voices were heard outside.

* * *

"Come monsters from netherworld," the princess whispered to the army of undead in front of her. But those were no vampires. They didn't even have an own will. They knew of just one thing: to feed. 

"So you will fight them?" a familiar voice said from behind her.

"I have no other choice. You yourself pushed me into a corner of granite with no other way out than to fight back. What else do you expect me to do? In difference to you I have a kingdom to protect."

"I guess," the vampire behind her said and looked out over the undead coming their way. "It was yet again my lord's orders. He wanted you to fight them, so that he could say just how strong you are, Battle Princess of Scotland."

"What does that mean?"

The man was silent for a moment, gazing at the princess's exposed neck. "You will see," was all he answered.

"When I have fought these monsters off," Yuniko said and turned towards the same vampire who had taken her brother and then kissed her. "You and I have to talk. Now when you are alone I refuse to think you are in a hurry to get away from me."

The vampire smirked darkly. Indeed he was in no hurry to get away from the purity, the beauty and the innocence that was the princess. He watched her ride towards the army of undead without fear and if his heart had been beating it would have jumped from the jolts of just seeing her eyes. He would never deny it for himself, but he had to for everyone else: he had fallen hard for the princess.

Yuniko felt how power filled her being. She recognized the force as magic, what she had used just a few times earlier. Now it was pulsing through her veins with the rythm of her heartbeat. Her skin started to glow with the pure magic, untainted by anything but the princess's deep wish to protect her people. She never even noticed her cloths were changed into a dress so pale blue it seemed white, with the dark, deep blue ribbon tying it together at her back and long, sky blue sleeves replacing her shirt. Around her neck a high, pale yellow necklace with a scarlet jewel appeared. The sword in her hand was no longer the one she had taken with her from her room. It was shining brightly, filled with Yuniko's own power.

Unicorn also faced a change. She was no longer afraid or angry. Actually she felt as safe as when she was home in the sable and falling asleep under her princess and friend's loving caresses. She never noticed it, neither did Yuniko, but suddenly Unicorn really was a unicorn. The horn in her forehead flashed brightly.

The blade in the princess's hand cut through her enemies and she watched them transform into earth and sand. Unicorn rose on her hind legs and neighed loudly over the dark beings around her and the princess.

On pure impulse the princess jumped down from Unicorn's back and let the beautiful creature fight on her own. Yuniko had enough power to fight down half of all these monsters on her own. The undead never touched her. But stones and branshes they threw at her did, covering her with cuts and bruises. Not that she had enough time to notice though.

From the stone monument the vampire watched with wide eyes. He had never seen anyone expand such pure powers. The princess did not do this for her own sake, but for her people, her father and her friends. As long as her powers stayed pure with her reasons and in her heart, there was no way his lord could win against her. And he knew what that meant.

Yuniko's light and purity was overwhelming for the monsters, but still they tried to get close to her to feed of her young flesh. One of them managed to come close enough to touch her, hadn't she noticed it and cut the arms off, leaving fresh bruises of hands on her legs. She grabbed its throat and looked straight into its eyes. To her surprise she could see a woman in the ugly face she was staring into. She realized this must once have been a human.

"Do not touch me," she said dangerously. "You are beyond even my saving now."

She squeezed the throat and saw the creature melt into earth.

"Impressive," the vampire said as he walked up to her.

"Unicorn," Yuniko said without turning her eyes from the earth of the one she had just killed. It had been the last one. "Go home."

Unicorn threw with her head and ran off towards the castle.

"Why let her go?" the vampire asked. "It will take you some time to get back now."

"I figured you would take me back freely," Yuniko said and turned, just to find the vampire close enough for her to reach out and touch. Now when they both stood up she found him being a head taller than her, with pointy ears.

The vampire nodded slowly as something shimmered in his eyes. Something Yuniko could not put her finger at.

"Who are you?" the princess asked as she let her sword slide back into the sheath. "I have seen you three times and still I do not know your name."

"You wish to know my simple name?" the man asked and took another step forwards, she didn't move away. When he reached out to touch her face she didn't flinch. "My name is Aku," he whispered.

"Evil," the princess answered.

"Yes," Aku said, gently caressing her face down to her long neck. "That is what it means by some foreign language. I am surprised you know of it. But you… why are you not afraid of me. You seemed to be afraid of Crow."

"I am not afraid," Yuniko said calmly, letting the man's hand travel down over her collarbones. "I simply can not like the one eyed one for anything in the world. He just desires what he himself can have from me."

"But I… what if I am just the same as him. We are the same kind after all."

Yuniko's eyes looked deeply into those deep wells that were Aku's eyes. "I know when I should be afraid. But you are no danger to me."

Aku was surprised by her answer, and got lost in the princess's bottomless eyes. "Maybe you are right," he whispered and leaned closer to her face. "I have no such desire. If I want something from you… it is only you."

Yuniko closed her eyes when Aku kissed her again. She felt his wish to take her, but also knew he wouldn't do it, not if she didn't agree to it first. His lips were cold, but his tongue was surprisingly warm and the move itself proved to her he was not to be feared, not by her.

"Princess," Aku whispered as he broke the kiss, but let his lips rest against hers, unwilling to release them. "Come with me. I can take you to a place where we can be alone until sun rises."

Yuniko backed away from him and softly hit his hands away from her face. She shook her head in denial. She couldn't go anywhere with him.

"Princess!"

The gentleness in Aku's face was gone in an instant as he turned to the one who had called.

"Father Scot?" Yuniko said surprised.

The priest saw the young treasure close to a vampire with pale hair and glowing blue eyes. Immediately he started to run so he could protect the harmless princess, as he thought she was.

All of sudden other creatures, these flying, left the trees, and Yuniko felt fear rush trough her veins.

"Father Scot, look out!" she shouted as they attacked her friend. He had no chance.

Aku moved swiftly, like a shadow towards the man and someone else held the scared princess back. She was helpless. There was nothing she could do to protect the monk. The power that had given her strength earlier was long gone. She could hear him cry out in pain and saw how Aku bit his neck.

"Stop it. Please, stop it."

It was too late, and the one holding her back hit a nerve in her neck and she fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Princess?" 

Yuniko opened her eyes slowly and gazed up into Malin's scared eyes. She was back in her room, in her own bed.

"What happened?" the teenager nurse asked with eyes wide of confusion and slight fear. "All I remember is rushing off with Sunset and how father Scot fell off his horse. Then everything went black."

The princess sat up and lifted a hand to her neck. There was nothing there. She was still untouched by them. But she knew Scot was not.

"They took father Scot," Yuniko whispered.

Malin's eyes widened as she gasped slightly and tears formed in her pretty eyes.

"I will go and tell the council and let another stone monument be raised over him," Yuniko said as she got up from her bed. "I will order that every soldier and fighting man dying in this war will be honoured with a monument. I will tell Honda to carve names into them."

Malin nodded and followed in the princess's tracks. To tell the council what they had done would not be fun though. They, along with the king, would be furious.

* * *

I'll try real hard to be up and around till April so that I can update this for you. Too bad my brain is still dried out of ideas for where I am in the story. I have come to a hard part.

Well, enough of that and I beg you all to review. I read them all and love the ones who have sent them.


	13. Arrival to the white castle

Pew. It was close I couldn't update this month. Sorry about the lateness, but in the last chapter I warned you that maybe I wouldn't be able to update this month.

I've been badly "abused". Both my upper and under jaw was broken off and I was at the hospital for almost a full week. My doctor told me it looked just like they had planned. That bastard, I'm so mad at him. Fisrt he jokes with me that I look great, and that's the day after the operation when my face is the most swollen and I'm totally groggy after the drugs.

Oh, stop me before I go too deep into the subject. That wasn't what I was to tell you. Here's the next chapter of The Battle Princess.

Enjoy, and don't forget to REVIEW

* * *

**Arrival to the white castle**

Bakura sat at her brother's bed with his head hanging low. He came here every day after school to be with his brother. He hadn't eaten much since Ryou had fallen into dreams, but he got help from the kinder hospital personal. They brought him food and made sure he ate it, but that was all they could do.

Yami and Kanaka sat there as well, Yami most of it since Kanaka had to work to make it with Yugi's hospital bill. Bakura had simply told Dr Lou the truth; that his relatives paid all his bills and asked him to send the bill there. He knew they would be upset and angry with him for doing it, but he couldn't care less. His brother was worth more than that to him.

The second day though, when he and Yami silently sat beside their brothers' beds, a woman none of them had seen before entered the room with four flowers in her hands.

Yami jumped at the sight of her and Bakura stared. The woman looked way more able to be Yugi's mother than Kanaka did. Her hair was wavy and tricolored with pale, golden bangs framing her nothing but beautiful face. Some of the blonde hair also mixed with the rest slightly in the glossy, black waves before it gently toned over into crimson. Her eyes were amethyst and her skin polished and seemed as soft as a newborn's. Dressed in a formfitting shirt and tight, modern jeans she looked extra hot too.

"I guess you are the older brothers of Ryou and Yugi," she said and the staring boys immediately closed their open mouths.

"Um… yes, we are," Bakura managed to say.

"I am Seto's mother," the woman said. "My name is Yukino, and I too have noticed the strange similarity young Yugi has to me."

Yami blinked and shook his head. He had never before met Seto's mother, but Seto had said nothing about it, and he had met Yugi the day he started high school.

"My brother told us about Yugi the first day he had seen him," another voice said and the older boys looked down at Mokuba, who stood behind his mother's legs. "He even wondered if mama had given away a child he didn't know of."

Yukino smiled gently and placed a red rose at the table beside her son. Then she moved over to Ryou's bed and placed a white lily at his. "I have picked these flowers with these four boys in thought," she said as she moved over to Malik's bed and placed a sunflower beside him. And then there was the last one, a multicoloured rose with dark leafs.

"I thought it suited him."

Yami simply nodded in agreement. This flower was a mystery, as was his brother to everyone nowadays. First off he wasn't Yami's brother, then it was the mystery about his skeleton, and his blood mixed up with a mineral that didn't exist. It was giving him a headache.

Yami looked down at his younger brother. He looked so innocent where he slept, untainted by the world that surrounded him. Once again he wondered what the smaller dreamt about. Yugi had mumbled about him, so he guessed he was inside there in some way.

Yami had found that Yugi's face was definitely not as neutral as he thought in the first glance. He showed emotions all the time. Sometimes it was happiness, when the corner of his mouth twisted upwards slightly, so slightly it could only be seen if one really looked. Then it could be sadness, when a wrinkle appeared between his eyes that were so tiny it seemed to belong in his skin. All those small shows of emotion made Yami imagine what his brother was dreaming of. Right now he was smiling.

"Seto must dream of something embarrassing," Mokuba suddenly said as his tall brother blushed deeply in his sleep.

"So do Ryou," Bakura said as an even deeper blush covered his brother's cheeks.

"And Yugi's amused by it," Yami said. "He's smiling."

"…I still wonder if they are not dreaming the same dream after all," Bakura said quietly.

"Is that possible?" Mokuba asked with wide eyes.

"No," Yami said with a sigh. "According to the doc it is physically impossible. Yet… from what I have seen and heard, it still seems completely sane to say they are."

The door opened once again and a tall, bronze-skinned woman carefully walked inside. Her face was pale and her hands trembled a little, but she tried to keep them still by grabbing the small, light purple flowers she had taken with her tightly.

"So you are here too?" Yami asked with a cold look at the older girl. He recognized her as Malik's sister. Isis nodded shortly and her eyes became even more hunted and anxious.

"I-I-I wanted to see if he was fine. I-I haven't b-been here since… that time. I t-thought he might f-feel lonely…"

She looked around at all the people in the room. With her they were nine in total. She looked down and remembered she had brought flowers.

"Why so jumpy?" Yukino asked calmly. "You don't like hospitals?"

"N-no, I don't," Isis said, almost stumbling over the words. "Um… is there any change in their condition?"

Everyone shook their heads no. The only news was that Ryou and Seto also were Dreamers now. Isis nodded and once again looked down at her small flowers. Then she saw the sunflower and stared in confusion.

"I brought it," Yukino said. "I couldn't help myself when I bought a flower for Seto. I saw that rose at young Yugi's bed, and thought I couldn't buy one for just those two, so I bought to all of them."

Isis nodded her head again mouthing her understanding and once again looked down at the small flowers in her hands.

"Malik was never really found with flowers," she said quietly. "But he liked this clematis. He said they made him feel relaxed."

Yukino helped the jumpy girl putting the small flowers in a small vase of water. Then she too sat down beside her brother. Isis had no idea what she was doing here. She had planned to never again enter the hospital, but after seeing the clematis and remembering what Malik had said to her… she suddenly found herself outside his door at the hospital.

"I think Malik enjoys your visit," Yami said after studying the other boy's features for some time. From his distance it was a little harder to see his shows of emotion.

Isis looked first at Yami and then down at Malik, just to find him smiling slightly her way. She blushed slightly in shame. He was her little brother after all, she shouldn't be so arrogant with him.

"Young Malik seems to be a very sweet boy," Yukino said softly. "Shy… but sweet."

"I know," Isis mumbled. "He's been all his life. Distant, but kind-hearted."

Isis stayed quiet after that, she knew that she could have destroyed her brother's kindness a long time ago hadn't he closed off against her words. Right now she felt terrible about it, but it was too late to change anything at this rate.

* * *

Yuniko once again sat at the window before sun rose, waiting for something to ease the all heavier feeling of loneliness in her heart. Of cause she had Malin, but even the kind-hearted nurse couldn't understand… not the whole truth. 

When the light of dawn coloured the world in grey and orange she noticed the small shadows standing at the cliff she had watched for five years. There were two of them, only children as far as she could see. But it was too far away to be sure.

Being sure it was her mother and her two younger sisters Atemu had told her about the princess went over to her nurse's bed and sat down. Malin rarely awoke before the sun was at least halfway out of bed.

The eighteen year old nurse slept lightly on her bed, covered with the white sheets. Yuniko still thought her friend looked like a child when she slept. She still clung to her pillow in that funny way of hers.

"They are coming now," she whispered to the sleeping form. "Soon I will uncover what I have not said to you. But yet I have to cover most of the truth for you."

* * *

It was now ten long days since the girls had first spotted the white castle. All the way there they had been able to see it and the dream that before they started this journey was no longer a dream. It was pure, touchable reality. It snowed hard and it was very cold for the lightly dressed girls when they reached the gate. 

"Hold it! Who are you, and what reasons lay behind your visit?" a guard asked suspiciously. On his chest was a red cross painted. The shield had changed since the vampires' weakness was uncovered.

"We are simple travellers," Rose said. This guard was new and wouldn't recognize her, neither would any of the others. "We seek service here."

Ryouko and Kyoko looked with wide eyes at the soldiers. They were the most handsome men they had met on their journey. One of them, a tall, blond man stepped forward.

"Why would you wish to seek service here of all places in times like these? Are you not aware of the war?"

"War?" the three travellers asked in union.

"Obviously not, Joey," another soldier muttered.

"Then from where have you travelled?"

"From London, sir," Kyoko answered.

The soldiers looked at them and then at each other.

"Come in," the boy Joey said and nodded at them to follow him. The gate opened slightly so the four of them could come inside.

They were led to the small village of tree houses where the servants were living. Rose kept her head down all the way to hide her face. They entered the biggest of the houses and immediately stood face to face with a huge man.

"These girls seek service in the castle, do you have a place for them?" Joey asked right away.

"I have no need for whores," the man said tonelessly.

"We are no whores!" Kyoko shot back and glared at the man. Afraid was the last thing she was. She didn't even care that they actually had been whores this far, but that was not the reason they sought the castle.

The huge man stared back at her. His eyes were almost drained from all life. "Brave are you," he said. "Brave to talk back to your master."

Kyoko was about to snap back when Rose grabbed her arm tightly. She knew this man well, and he hadn't changed much during the years.

"Maybe I have a place for you…"

The door suddenly opened again and another woman entered hastily.

"There is a storm coming this way," she said as she threw back the hood and brushed snow off of her cloak.

"Miss Malin, what honours me your visit?" the man asked and his eyes immediately turned lustful. It was no secret he lusted for the princess's nurse.

"Her majesty ordered me to take a look at the newcomers," Malin answered as she stepped closer to Joey. She could defend herself, but she was never safe anywhere near this man. She looked over at the three, wet and cold girls and immediately started to fuss over them.

"Oh no, you are soaked! You will be sick. Come and let me change your cloths at least. I know where there is an empty room where you can stay for now," she said and started to move along a corridor. The head slave had showed her around the house when she had healed in belief she would live there, right before it was announced she would live in the castle as the princess's nurse. But before she led the way she turned and nodded to her blond friend. Joey bowed deeply for Malin and left without another glance at the head slave. He was higher than that.

"Here," Malin said as she led them into the room and lightened the oil lamp carefully before she started to work with a bonfire in the middle of the room. "There is a lock on the inside of the door, please lock the door right away. There are many men here and the news there are new girls here will lure them here in no time."

There was not much in the room. A few simple beds and cloths lying around in a corner. The room was neatly clean and smelled good of tallow and resin.

Malin, as the woman was named, fed the bonfire with more wood from a basket beside it before she walked over to the heap of cloths. Kyoko and Ryoko noticed she had the half-length skirt that marked a servant, but it seemed warm and she had high cotton socks to keep her long legs warm. She was really beautiful with her long, pale golden hair and bronze-coloured skin.

"Who are you?" Ryouko asked as she pulled her cold and all too thin dress off her cold skin.

"My name is Malin," the woman said and turned around with cloths and a kind smile. "I serve as the princess's nurse here. She is the one who told me to see to you. She thought it was strange for visitors to come here at times like these."

"The guards outside said the same thing," Kyoko said with a slight frown as Malin dried her hair with a soft towel. "What is it about the times?"

Malin's smile vanished for a moment. "I should have known you would not know. But I see you have gotten crucifixes at least. We, the princess mostly, are in war with the evil coming from north. It has already caused her a lot of pain, too much if you ask me."

"How is she? Is it true that the prince is dead?" Rose whispered. Ryouko and Kyoko both stared wide-eyed at her.

"It is," Malin said sadly. "The princess was deeply hurt, still is even if she is good at hiding her pain away. The prince was her brother and best friend. Not even I can fill the hole he has left in her heart."

"So you are the princess's friend?" Ryouko asked as Malin helped her dress in the warm, sheep wool dress and high cotton socks.

"I dare to say I am her best friend, now when the prince is not here."

"Is it true she is Scotland's highest beauty ever?" Kyoko asked eagerly from where she sat at the fire warming her hands.

"The princess is the most beautiful human in the world," Malin stated with a definite nod. "She is so pure not even the evils of the north can not hurt her skin, so innocent most people around her wish nothing but to protect it. There is this rumour going around among the lowest of slaves that she could tame the Devil himself to eat from her hands is she wished to."

"She can never be more beautiful than mother," Kyoko stated stubbornly.

Malin looked up at the face of the woman who was the girls' mother… and dropped her jaw.

"Good Heavens… you look almost like the queen on the painting!"

Rose immediately turned her face away. "I have no knowledge of what you are talking," she said a little too harsh.

"There is no need to be angry or offended. Her majesty told me more than ten years ago the queen got banished for some reason and has not been seen since then. The queen's parents died from age and her sister was executed for trying to commit the same crime the queen had failed, and the princess said she was too late to save her."

Rose felt a hard stab to her heart. Her sister was executed? She didn't know of that one. She had been transported out of Scotland the same day she was judged and hadn't been able to contact her family.

"Here, this will protect you even better than the crucifix," Malin said when she had helped Rose dress into another sheep wool dress. She handed the two younger girls a necklace with one single pearl of glass. "This pearl is filled with the princess's light. We believe the evil is intolerant towards light. Please promise me that you will always have these on."

Ryouko and Kyoko accepted the pearls and agreed to always carry them.

"Does everyone have this?" Ryouko asked curiously.

"No," Malin said from the door since she was about to leave. "Only I, the king and the princess's closest friends have one. So keep it hidden. If anyone sees it they will try to steal it. Fear and jealousy may even have you killed."

The three nodded and locked the door after Malin.

"Now what?" Kyoko asked. "Do you think that head slave will make us whores once again?"

"I do not think so," Rose said lowly as she watched the smoke from the fire leave through a hole in the ceiling. "If the princess gave you those pearls, I believe she has other plans for you."

* * *

"Princess?" Malin called once she entered their room. Yuniko hadn't moved from her place at the window. 

"Have you seen to they are comfortable, Malin?" the young treasure asked without turning around.

"I have. They are mother and her two daughters. The mother look quite similar to the queen at the painting though. She has those amethyst eyes and almost your kind of hairstyle."

Yuniko played with the tops of her hair. They were turning blue again as her hair grew back out and the tops toned over to blue once again in the same tact.

"It was fifteen years ago mother was banished. She promised to come back to me one day."

Malin looked confused. "Do you think… that woman is… your mother?"

"I can not tell," Yuniko said with a heavy sigh. "I can not tell until I meet her in person. But if you ask me… I would love it if she was my mother. I have missed her so much."

Malin nodded in understanding. During the years it had been so obvious to her that Yuniko needed a mother around. She needed the motherly love that no one could give her.

"The evil is going out for their nightly hunt soon," the princess continued. "But I do not believe they will come close to my castle yet. There is still too much they need from me."

Malin's face seemed to be carved out of stone now. She refused to let her fear show in front of the princess, even if she currently was not looking. She hated it, Malin hated to be worthless in protection, hated the feeling of helplessness. Unicorn and Sky did that way better than she could ever compare with. The young nurse didn't deny she was jealous at those animals. She wished she could be as good as them.

"Malin," Yuniko suddenly said and reached a hand out for her nurse and best friend. "Can you come and sit with me for a moment?"

Malin nodded with a slight smile as she walked up to the princess and sat on a chair under her. Resting her head in Yuniko's soft lap she thought of how much she had experienced with the purest heart of the world. Yuniko had showered her with love and friendship ever since they first met, much more so than her real family had ever done. She had learnt to fight and was better than most of the guards and soldiers in many ways, not just for the fact she used her smaller body as advantage and was swifter than anyone else but the princess. No one could ever beat Yuniko in anything but telling stories, since the princess was no storyteller. That was the only thing Malin was better at, and Yuniko happily listened to her made up stories.

"Yuni," Malin whispered when she was halfway into sleep. The princess hummed in response. "You will never leave me, will you? You will always stay with me, and let me stay with you?"

Yuniko felt a slight pang of guilt. She had not rarely thought to send Malin to France to live with princess Tea's family where she would be protected, but knew that would only leave the princess alone.

"Of cause, Malin," she whispered back as she lovingly patted her friend's hair. "I will never leave you, and I will never let you leave my side. I need you so much more than you understand."

Malin heard and took the words to the deepest parts of her heart, but she was also more asleep than awake, and in her dreams she, Atemu and the princess lived in the castle in times of light.

* * *

That morning Malin woke up first. Yuniko was sleeping peacefully beside her in her bed, holding her hand. It was rare, but some nights, when the princess was hunted by nightmares she slept in Malin's bed. She had explained it calmed her to feel her nurse's breathing in her face, and Malin would never deny her friend anything that was calming to her. Yuniko's nerves were almost always tense, even if she looked as calm as a soft midsummer breeze. 

Malin's thoughts went back to the three travellers she had met the night before. Those girls were awfully pretty, but there was something in their smell that somewhat disturbed the nurse, not in a bad way, just disturbing. And they seemed quite curious about the princess. Malin wondered once again where they had travelled from, and why they had sought service in the castle. Could it be just because of the princess?

"Are you awake, Malin?" Yuniko suddenly whispered, having awoken from her nurse's change in breathing.

"I am," Malin whispered back, not able to resist the sisterly patting on Yuniko's head.

"Will you watch the sunrise with me this morning?" the princess asked slowly.

Malin nodded her head yes and the two girls got up and dressed. Malin had actually never seen the sunrise before. The end of it, yes, but not the very beginning of the majestic play of light over the sky.

Yuniko, with her usual good taste, picked out a now-white dress with dune feathers around the collar and end of the sleeves. It was a warm winter dress of the finest sheep wool and cotton. Malin tied a wreath with thin bangs of the princess's golden hair with hairpins decorated with white feathers. Malin loved to do the princess's hair. It was like silk under her fingers and smelled of summer and autumn apples. And the soft waves in it mirrored the treasure's personality she thought.

Malin had a similar dress, without the feathers. Yuniko, in order to be as much alike her nurse as possible tied her hair with a flower made of purplish magpie feathers.

The sunrise had never been so beautiful. Malin sat in the chair below the window and Yuniko on the window hill. The sky-blue eyes of the princess seemed to change colour with the sky the nurse noticed. Her princess's eyes seemed to turn into gold, rubies, amethysts emeralds and at last back to the crystalline sapphires.

"Come," Yuniko said suddenly. "Let us go out and enjoy the sun. It was long since we just did that."

"Your father will not be pleased when you desert the morning meeting with the council," Malin stated, but not as scolding.

"I know what they will say," the princess said as she made her way over to the door. "There is no reason for me to…"

A knocking on the door stopped her in the middle of her sentence. Without hesitating she opened the door to reveal a very awake and hyper Mokuba, he too dressed completely in white.

"Good morning big sister! I still love you!" the errand boy greeted and hugged the princess's waist tightly and hid his face between her breasts in a very son-like way.

Yuniko just laughed and patted his head before returning the hug. "You are the sweetest boy in the world," she said with a loving smile. "I wish everyone had a little brother like you."

"Oh no," Malin and Mokuba said determinedly in choir. "I am/He is just for you."

Yuniko laughed again at her two friends and invited Malin too into the hug. "Let us go out and enjoy the sun," she told them with the happiest smile in a long time.

* * *

Ryouko and Kyoko were out early to enjoy the living dream they had shared together since they were born. It was just the first day and a lot could happen with the passing time. 

"Maybe we will not be able so meet the prince," Ryouko said as she looked up at the clear sky. "But we will see the princess one day and I will tell her straight into her face mother is more beautiful than her."

"Me too," Kyoko said determinedly. "Most people we have met have never seen her in person. Only the ones we have met here have, but not up close. I bet she is the inside type who just sits on her ass and give orders."

"That Malin girl yesterday was very kind, though," Ryouko said quietly. "But she must have been closed in with the princess her entire life and has not seen many other girls than the princess and the servants of the castle."

The sisters turned when they suddenly heard laughing from the entrance of the castle. The door was slightly open and three persons rushed out in the snow, seemingly to enjoy the sun after the storm that had clad the land in a thick layer of pure, white snow.

"Is that not Malin?" Ryouko asked as she recognized the girl from the night before.

"It is," Kyoko agreed. "But who are those other two?"

It was a small boy with black hair dressed in white who ran ahead of two girls, one of them being Malin. The two girls took each others hands and started to spin around in a wild dance, all the while laughing their time away. The boy threw a snowball at the girls, which hit Malin's back and stopped the girls' dance. Malin made an own snowball and rushed after the boy with empty threats. She was smiling widely and failed to stop her laughing.

"They seem to have a lot of fun," Kyoko said.

"We never had enough freedom to just go out and play. They are spoiled with freedom," Ryouko said with bitterness.

A small snowball fight started between the three people and the two sisters watched with a hint of jealousy.

"You are not fair!" the boy suddenly called as he picked up more snow. "Lady Yuniko is moving too much, I can not hit you!"

The girl with a white wreath in her hair moved swiftly, so swiftly Ryouko and Kyoko had to blink at the mere sight of her moving. The still nameless girl caught the boy and threw him up in the air with a joyous smile on her face.

"They must be brother and sisters," Kyoko said and tilted her head to the side slightly.

"But one of them are wearing a long dress," Ryouko noticed confused. "That means she is of a higher class than a servant."

"That can not be possible," Kyoko protested. "No noble would lower so much as to play with servants."

The girl with long dress suddenly noticed them watching and, much to their confusion, waved happily at them. Malin walked up to the nameless girl and said something. The girl nodded and walked over to the sisters.

"So you are the ones who came here during the storm?" she asked. Her voice was just as bell-like as her laugher. The sisters could just nod.

"Are your mother not out?" Malin asked with a kind smile.

"Mother is a sleepyhead," Kyoko said, not able to take her eyes off of the beauty before her. The girl's hair could as well be water as its waves fell so perfectly over her shoulders. Her skin was pale but had a hint of golden brown that showed she was outside every now and then, but it was so pale it was not visible in a distance. Her body was curved perfectly, as if she was made by an angel, even if she didn't have too much in height. But what captured Kyoko as well as Ryouko were her eyes. The girl had blue eyes, crystalline, beating the sky itself in innocence and purity.

"Complete opposite from our princess then," the raven-haired boy said with a teasing grin.

"Do not talk out of place, Mokuba," Malin scolded with an I-can-hurt-you-if-I-wish look.

"You do all the time," the boy Mokuba returned and hugged the third girl's waist as if she would protect him against anything.

"I am her majesty's nurse, I have the right to do so," Malin said and turned her face away.

The other girl just laughed and the watching sisters blushed slightly. They seemed to be a very happy family.

But suddenly the girl with a long dress pushed the boy away from her gently and ran away from the group with the grace and elegance of a fairy.

"Lady Yuniko?" Malin and Mokuba asked after her.

"Sky needs to be loved," the girl named Yuniko answered and turned her face to the sky. Ryouko, Kyoko, Malin and Mokuba did the same and saw the mighty eagle diving towards them.

"A golden eagle," Ryouko whispered.

"The king of heaven?" Kyoko gasped.

"Sky," Malin said. "The princess's birthday present. He can not replace Guardian, the wild eagle that watched over her when she was young, but he is more than a friend to her, and she is more than just a mistress to him." Malin was quiet for a moment before she added whispering: "And it was long since last time I saw her smile like that."

The two sisters watched with eyes bigger than dinner plates as the eagle carefully landed on the girl Yuniko's shoulders and playfully nibbled her hair. A loud neighing was heard from the stables along with the calls of a young man before the most beautiful horse Ryouko and Kyoko had ever seen rushed towards Yuniko as well.

"It looks like everyone needs to be a little loved now when the time is as rough as it is," Malin said quietly.

"That can not be an ordinary horse," Kyoko said and stared in disbelief. She had never seen a white horse with golden mane and tail.

"Unicorn is Lady Yuniko's too," Mokuba explained. "She is the offspring of a half-wild horse named Shadow and Midnight, who was Scotland's best horse before Unicorn was born. She was born for Lady Yuniko only."

Malin nodded in agreement as she watched her best friend love her protectors and friends. But the cosy moment was broken by the soldier Joey who came running towards them from the castle.

"Princess, his majesty is furious for your disappearance. He has ordered everyone to look for you."

Ryouko and Kyoko's eyes opened as wide as it was possible when the coin suddenly fell through.

"Is he afraid I am taken by the vampires?" the girl asked.

"Obviously," Joey nodded. "He is tense as a bowstring. You can not worry him like this. If you keep this up he will die out of pure worry for you, Milady."

Malin walked over to them. "We awoke early and decided to play instead of going to the meaningless meeting. Milady said she already knew what it was about."

"That does not change matters," Yuniko said. "I will go and calm him. You can go back to your duties, Joey. You too Mokuba."

"Yes Milady," Mokuba answered and rushed towards the castle, knowing what to do.

"Princess Yuniko, the king ordered me to stay by your side as your bodyguard from now on," Joey said and bowed almost carefully.

Yuniko nodded and sent her two animal friends away, though they seemed quite satisfied with the short morning play they had had.

"That was the princess?" Kyoko and Ryouko whispered in union as Yuniko walked back to the castle with the soldier and Malin in her tracks.

* * *

"Mother! Mother!" 

Rose awoke as her two daughters jumped at her in her bed, the most comfortable bed she had slept in since she was banished.

"Calm down my treasures. What has happened?"

"The princess!" Ryouko said in a loud whisper.

"We have seen the princess!" Kyoko picked up with wide eyes.

"She talked to us," Ryouko said and looked at her younger sister for support.

"She was playing with Malin and another servant," Kyoko told her mother and Ryouko nodded.

Rose just smiled. "So the princess is a disappointment?" she asked calmly.

Both girls shook their heads wildly.

"N-no, she is… she is the most b-beautiful human I have ever seen!" Kyoko stated.

"S-she looked like a real angel, dressed in white and her hair fell like water over her back, in waves, just like water!" Ryouko more or less yelled.

"And she had blue eyes, bluer than the sky, crystalline!" Kyoko said and nodded at her own statement.

Rose laughed at her daughters' flushed faces and sparkling eyes. They had dreamt so much of this place and she knew they had just had their picture of the princess ruined, in a good way.

"I-I never thought I would meet anyone who was more beautiful than you, mother," Kyoko said after much describing in different directions of what had happened. "But she was… she just was."

"Are you disappointed… that your mother is not the most beautiful one in this world?"

Both sisters looked at each other confused. They had never really thought of it.

"I do not know," Kyoko said, hesitatingly but honestly. "You just… you have always been more beautiful than all the other girls around us. Even in the whorehouse heads turned your way because of your beauty."

Rose nodded in understanding and was about to say something when a soft knocking suddenly was heard on their door. Rose stood from her bed and walked up to the door with a suspicious glint in her eyes.

"Who is it?" she called through the door.

"My name is Mokuba, the princess's errand boy. I have a message for you from the princess herself."

Ryouko and Kyoko looked at each other. Mokuba was the name of the boy from before, the one who had been playing with Malin and the princess. He was the princess's own errand boy?

Rose opened the door carefully and the slim boy sneaked in quickly and shut the door and locked it carefully behind him again.

"You have to be careful when you go outside. Many eyes are locked at this one door," the boy said once he turned around.

"What is your message?" Rose asked.

"Can you read?" Mokuba asked back. Rose nodded and the boy handed her a letter written down swiftly with a steady hand.

Kyoko and Ryouko stood at their mother's side in order to read it after she was done, but Rose had no such plans. Once she had read it through she turned and threw it into the fire that was still burning in the middle of the room.

"Mother?" the girls protested.

"What shall I bring back to her majesty?" Mokuba asked, his eyes now suspicious and less friendly.

"Tell her I will be there," Rose said, not looking up from the burning paper.

Mokuba bowed and left.


	14. Reunion before leaving

Another month, another chapter. Sorry for this to be so short and bad. I really don't like this chapter, but I guess you must add one of those too in this kind of story.

I even got off my ass and read the story of Dracula. Well, I know I've gotten a few things wrong in this story (not including the blue eyes, I did that on purpose). However, I'm not gonna change anyhing I've written this far. I hope vampirelovers forgive me for that.

Don't forget to review after reading.

* * *

**Reunion before leaving**

When the night finally fell Rose sneaked out of the room and house without anyone noticing. She had fifteen years experience of tiptoeing and was at the great wall, far from the gate in the matter of a few minutes.

"You have the grace of an experienced thief," a soft, bell-like voice said from the shadows.

"Who is there?" Rose asked with a threatening hiss.

"It is me, mother," Yuniko said as she stepped out of the darkness, drawing back the hood of her deep blue cloak. "I missed you."

Rose stared at the beautiful princess for a long moment, taking in the realization of how much of her daughter's life she had missed out. In the end she could not take it anymore, and fell to her knees at the princess's feet, crying with her face hidden in the princess's cloak.

"I am sorry," she whispered. "I am so sorry I left you. I should have stayed. I should have stayed and protected you."

Yuniko was not surprised by her mother's actions. Actually she had awaited them.

"You are not enough to protect me," the princess whispered softly, making her mother look up at her with watery eyes. "One human alone is not enough to protect me against the vampires. An army of ten thousand men are not enough. You would have been killed as well, just like Atemu."

Snow started to fall slowly and a soft breeze made the princess's long dress and cloak flatter slightly. Her eyes were dry from tears, but the sadness and bitter knowing of what would soon happen shone in them instead.

"Mother, what crime did you try to commit fifteen years ago?" Yuniko asked carefully softly.

Rose shivered slightly at the memory. "Something terrible happened when you were born," the still beautiful woman said slowly. "You have to believe me; I never wanted anything else but to protect you. But my idea was different from your father's. He stated you were safe where you were, caught inside the great wall. So one night, the same one I got banished, I tried to take you away, take you with me, far away from here. I thought… I thought I could give you a better life, a safer life outside the castle grounds, away from Scotland."

Yuniko's soft, warm hands grabbed the texture of her mother's dress tightly, but her face did not change.

"Yuniko?"

The princess shook her head slowly, not taking her eyes away from Rose's. "I was born to become the queen of Scotland. I could never turn away from this responsibility. I am not safe anywhere. The vampires are after me, and they can fly. Not even fire weapons can secure me my safety."

The former queen nodded as her tears still fell down her cheeks in slow, warm rivers. "I believed I could give you a life. But now, when I have lived outside the great wall, away from Scotland and my family… I am happy I failed my mission to take you away. I could not have given you the life I wished for you to live out there. I have suffered for my mistake… but please, I beg you, my daughter, take care of the two girls I brought. I can not live with myself if they are forced to live the life they have lived until now. They have dreamt of this place since they were born. Do not turn them down… take care of them."

"Brother said they are my sisters, half sisters, is that true?"

Rose blinked. She had been very rush when she had written that letter and given it to the man, someone who she had promised her free favours if he managed to sneak it into the castle, she had not paid much attention to what she wrote. The man had come back badly hurt and died at her chest, never managing to say what had happened to him or the letter.

"They are. I… I made my living… I sold my body to gain money to survive. It was the only thing I could do."

"So you have given birth to other men's children beside mine?" another voice said, causing the two women to flinch.

"Father," Yuniko whispered, her eyes narrowed and the grip of her mother's dress tightened.

"Can I talk to your mother for a moment, daughter. I give you my word I will not harm her."

The princess looked into her father's honest eyes. She could see some kind of longing in them, a feeling he had not felt in a long time.

"Of cause, father," she curtsied for him. "I wish you good night."

The princess was about to leave when she felt the familiar chill down her spine, they were here, but not for her. What was worse; she knew for whom they had come.

"They are here," she whispered to her father. "They will take her as soon as she leaves."

The king looked down at the pure white snow, which had turned blue in the darkness. He just nodded that he understood, and the princess left hastily, knowing she would never again see her mother.

"Dear… your majesty," Rose corrected herself, bowing her head low.

"Rise," Loutus said softly and Rose obeyed, just to be surprised by her former husband. He embraced her tightly, freeing all the love and care he held only for his former wife.

"My… my king?"

"I am so sorry," Loutus whispered with his face hidden in Rose's hair. "I was a fool. I really believed I could protect our children. I am so sorry."

Rose felt this was not the king of Scotland. This was the man she had once fallen in love with, the man she had married and whose children she had carried. This was the man she loved, and still did love. She returned the embrace and felt the still familiar warmth of her husband. Through the years she had been with countless men, but none of them could compare to the one she had once married.

"We were fools both of us. I could not have given her a life outside the great wall. In the end you and I were both as useless to protect our children."

Loutus nodded slightly. He knew. He knew so well, and now it was far too late. He could not even save this woman in his arms, the one he would go through Heaven and Hell for over and over again for just to be able to see her smile.

"I have missed you," he confessed lowly. "I have missed you so much only Yuniko and Atemu have been able to cheer me up, even if it was unconsciously. I have to confess… I never stopped loving you."

"You have no idea of how much I have regretted my choice," Rose sniffed quietly. "I just… I needed something to focus my mind on, I needed something to waste my love on, so I gave birth again. The two girls in my company, they are my daughters. And they are only _my_ daughters, but both of them are splitting images of their fathers. I still remember both of their faces. But I beg you on my bare knees, do not hurt them. Do not send them away."

Loutus could only nod and promise as he dried his own tears with his former wife's hair. "You have to leave now. I can make you invisible for the guards so you can leave in the quiet. But… it will end your life."

Rose looked at him with fear in her eyes. She did not understand. "Why? Why should my leaving cost me my life?"

Loutus just shook his head and allowed his tears to fall. "Yuniko warned me. You are the next target of them, the vampires."

Rose stared terrified and then gripped the crucifix around her hip tightly. "That is why you have ordered everyone to carry this around. It is some kind of protection against the evil that is after our daughter?"

Once again Loutus just nodded. "I suppose your girls have been given a pearl."

"They have… I guess our little angel daughter figured out right away when we came here, that it was me?"

"I believe you are right. No one is able to fool her."

They stared at each other for a moment, both knowing that this night could end only in one way. Rose leant up and softly kissed the man she loved so dearly on the lips, one last time. Loutus returned the kiss softly, but in his heart he felt nothing but the pain of knowing he would lose her forever this time.

Using his magic to make him and his former queen and wife invisible for the guards' eyes he let Rose sneak out through a side door, which was used mostly by the animals, but closely guarded. He could see the dark shadow of a vampire over the snow, following Rose from above, before he turned and went back into the castle.

* * *

Yukino turned back to the hospital she and Mokuba had just left. She had a strange feeling of being watched. 

"Mom? What's wrong?" Mokuba asked from where he stood at the car.

"Nothing, dear. Just… a strange feeling."

From the rooftop saddened eyes followed the beautiful woman's every move.

"You will live this time. I will not let you face the same fate once again. Never again. I will see to my daughter to destroy the last ones of us… forever."

* * *

Malin awoke with a jolt when something, or rather someone, fell over her heavily. She thought of screaming, but then noticed a wave of black and blue hair. It was the princess. 

"Yuni? What are you doing? What has happened?"

"They have taken my mother," the princess whispered quietly.

"Your…? You mean that woman was actually your mother?"

"…Yes, she was my mother. And the two girls…"

"No," Malin whispered. "They are your sisters?"

The princess just nodded and smiled slightly in the darkness. "I met up with mother a moment ago, but father was there too… and a vampire."

Malin quickly set the pieces together. The queen had been banished, but somehow she had managed to sneak back into the castle with her two daughters, the princess's half sisters. If the king had caught them the former queen would have to leave right away or be killed on the spot. But from Yuniko's mentioning of the vampire it was the first alternative the king had chosen. The princess had just lost yet another family member to them.

"Oh Yuni… I am so sorry."

"… I know Malin… Me too."


	15. Yuniko, Ryouko, Kyoko

Hello in June !

Now I have good news and I have bad. Lets start with the good one.

I am almost done writing this story. Only six or perhaps seven (with epilogue) chapters left.

The bad news is that I'm taking a summer break (well, that's not bad for me, but for you, my loyal readers) In July and Agust there will be no updates at all from me since I'm partly working, partly on vacation and partly on different events spread out all over the summer break. I REALLY hope you won't hate me too much for this.

That was all I had to say for now. Enjoy the chapter, have a great summertime and I'll see you again in September (I promise)

* * *

**Yuniko, Ryouko, Kyoko**

Things would have to happen fast from now on. If the princess wanted to save as many lives as possible she would have to gather all her magic and put a protecting shield over Scotland and only those very skilled vampires with high knowledge of ancient and new magic would be able to make it past it. And this Yuniko would have to do without the kingdom's knowledge. But before she could do anything else she had to take care of the two girls who had lost their mother that same night.

* * *

Ryouko and Kyoko were waiting for their mother to come back. They didn't know when she had left or even why, but they were sure she would soon be back. She always did. 

"Miss Malin, this is madness. The princess can not order such a thing!"

The two girls looked up as raised voices reached them from down the corridor.

"The princess has given very clear orders. The girls can not stay here where they eventually will be killed one way or another."

"But sweet, lovely Malin, they are nothing but simple whores. What need would the princess have of such?"

There were sounds of someone getting beaten and the sisters crept closer to each other.

"Never again talk about the princess like that," a threatening male voice said darkly. The girls recognized it as Joey's.

"It is madness I say, madness. Those little whores will bring nothing but doom to the kingdom!"

"_You_ are the only thing I can say will bring any doom here!" the voice of Malin yelled angrily. "I will take the girls to the princess and if her heart is as pure as I think you may get away without punishment, but if she let me decide you will soon _homeless_!"

Silence followed the serious threat. Ryouko and Kyoko didn't dare to move when determined footsteps neared their room. They hid in a corner when a strong knocking was heard on their door.

"Girls, are you there?" a soft voice asked. "It is me, Malin. Can I come in?"

Ryouko slowly moved towards the door, but not before she had covered Kyoko with a blanket. They had been threatened and almost tricked into bed the day before, but another, rather fat woman with high authority had saved them.

"W-what do you want?" Ryouko asked through the door.

"The princess wishes to see you in the castle. Will you come with me?"

Kyoko lifted her head and locked gazes with her older sister. What was this about?

Kyoko made her way over to the door as Ryouko slowly opened it. Malin stood outside and smiled encouraging at them. Behind her Joey stood guard, glaring hard at the head-slave, who did not want the newcomers to leave for the princess.

"What shall the princess do with a pair of whores?" the head-slave asked lowly. "Give them as a gift to the evils? Serves them right."

Joey was over the man within a second and gave him his second beating. "I thought I told you not to talk about the princess in such manner," he growled dangerously.

"Come with me, girls. I promise the princess has nothing bad in mind."

"But we have to wait for mother to return," Kyoko spoke up.

Malin's face saddened. "The princess will explain. Please come with me now."

The girls carefully walked out in the corridor and Malin gently pushed them ahead of her to cover their backs. This time the head-slave was silent, but his soulless eyes bore holes into their bodies.

"Curse you," he whispered right before they left the building.

* * *

The sisters stood inside a small, cosy room which had the white stonewalls covered with red draperies and one wall had a few smaller paintings of faces of noblemen. Behind them were two huge windows, bigger than Ryouko and Kyoko together, which viewed over the massive land of east. If they had been higher up they may have been able to view the ocean, if the weather had been clearer. A small fire sparkled happily in a fire-place at the opposite wall from the windows and spread comfortable and very welcome warmth in the chilly season. Malin had left them for a moment and Joey with her so if they wished they could play around in the room at wish, but none of them dared to do it. They didn't even dare to use any of the comfortable-looking furniture in the room so both of them sat on the floor, which was warm from the fire and the soft carpet. 

Kyoko glanced at her sister questioning, but the other just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head in confused denial of knowledge.

There was a knocking on the door, but none of them dared to answer or even acknowledge their presence. But the door opened anyhow, revealing the Malin, Joey…

And the princess, dressed nicely in a pale blue dress and a golden necklace, simple and round, surrounded her neck. Her skin seemed to be polished carefully in every inch and her mare appearance almost demanded the two sisters' attention and respect. But her eyes were slightly darker than before, as if grief had taken part of her heart.

"Why are you at the floor?" the princess asked truly confused. "The chairs will not bite you," she added with a slight smile. The sisters just blushed and looked away.

The princess shook her head slightly with a saddened expression before she seated herself in one of the chairs.

"Milady, shall I tell his majesty about your whereabouts or shall I just try and calm him?"

The princess didn't need to see the one who had talked in order to know who it was, but everyone else turned towards him.

"Just try and calm him, Mokuba. Having him disturb me now would be a very bad thing."

The errand boy bowed deeply before he turned and left as silent as he had appeared.

"Something terrible took place last night," the princess said quietly after a moment, looking at the two girls still at the floor. "Your mother was taken away by the vampires, the evil that comes from north."

Ryouko and Kyoko could just stare strangely, highly confused and disbelieving.

"What… what are you saying… your majesty?" Ryouko whispered at last.

"I am so sorry," the princess whispered with clear eyes. "There was nothing I could do in order to save her. She herself knew she would not be able to come back to you this morning."

"What are you saying?" Ryouko repeated, voice a little louder and with hot tears burning behind her eyelids.

"I am sorry I could not do anything. But she left you in my care, and I will make sure to take care of you properly."

"You are _lying_!" Ryouko suddenly yelled with the top of her lungs, her tears no longer held back. Joey was about to scold her, but the princess stopped him with a gesture of her hand. "What you say is not true! Mother would never leave us! She said so herself! I know my own mother; she would never ever in her entire life abandon us! I refuse… I refuse to believe you… your words are nothing but lies!"

"Stop it! Milady is…"

"You stop, Joey," the princess suddenly spoke up with a hard look at her bodyguard. "They have every right to be angry at me. You were too once, remember?"

Joey cast his eyes downward in shame. The princess was more than right. All his life, until they had met, he had despised her. "Forgive me."

"How can you say this so calmly?" Kyoko suddenly spoke up with low but steady voice. Her face was stained with tears, but her eyes shot cold flashes at the princess. "How can you tell us something like this so calmly? If you were truly sorry for us you would have cried with us or at least look like you regretted telling us this. Why are you so calm?"

"Because I have no other choice," the princess said slowly, her eyes looking straight into the young brunette's cerulean blue ones so the suspicion of lies would fall. "Either I could let you live in the shadows, always worrying about what have happened to her, never telling you the truth of your mother's disappearance or explain my actions. Or I could tell you right at your faces she is gone and let you live with that somewhat safe knowledge. I believed this would be less painful than living in forever worry about someone long gone."

"But why so calm?" Kyoko asked again. "Why sounding so toneless?"

The princess closed her eyes slowly, not opening them again. "There are truths not safe to know about. There are feelings I have to hide away forever. There will forever be a choice forced on me. I am ripped between what I am, what is desired and awaited from me and my duty as the ruler of Scotland. I am truly sorry I could not save your mother, and I wish I did not have to tell you. I wish I could cry with you or somewhat comfort you in your grief. But nothing can I do but tell you everything now and let it sink in. Nothing can I do because I am always watched, by sun and moon as well as darkness. I am sorry I am such a disappointment on you."

With this said Yuniko rose from her chair and turned as to leave, but she stopped in the door. "Lisa and Malin will show you to your rooms and help you with anything you need. I suggest you take a bath and clean yourself from the dirt of the long journey here."

The princess, the ruler of Scotland, turned around and smiled kindly at the two sisters, who still sat on the floor with tears in their eyes.

"Bring Lisa here, Joey. Malin, you know which rooms I intend to settle them down in. You know what to do."

"Yes, Milady," the two said and bowed for the princess.

* * *

An elderly woman helped Kyoko wash her short hair with a good smelling oil as the little girl did her best to scrub off all traces of what she had been away from her body, but the filth felt like grown into her skin. She was disgusted of herself. And the fact she no longer had her mother to go to she felt very alone. And for some reason she blamed the princess. The pure, innocent princess. And it must have been visible on her face. 

"Do not judge our treasure too hard," the old woman, Lisa, said with saddened voice. "She has suffered so much. She had to tell the entire castle about her brother's death, and after that everyone was afraid of her. Yet she is now the only heir to the Scottish throne and has to stand on her own two legs whatever happens to her. She has never lived an easy life."

Kyoko looked at the old woman, who had very kind and wise grey eyes, as if she had lived long enough to see through any human around her.

"I do not blame the princess," Kyoko denied. "But she seems to be cold-hearted. I can not understand how she can announce mother's death with such calmness."

"She has to," Lisa said lowly. "She has told me she can never more cry, for her tears are desired by the evil. She saw her brother die, but you never needed to live with such a painful memory."

Kyoko guiltily looked down at her small body, just to see imaginary filth covering it. Why did she feel so dirty? Was it because of what she had been forced to do during the journey here? Right now she wished with everything she had she never had sneaked away from her mother to take jobs. It had not saved them any better than what Rose could make on her body. She was just a child after all. A small, dumb child.

Lisa embraced the trembling and crying twelve-year-old softly. The child had just lost someone very dear to her, and Lisa could hear some kind of guilt and shame in the sobs too, but she would not press it. If the girl wished to talk she would, but now was not the time.

* * *

Malin scrubbed Ryouko's back with used moves and her soft hands massaged the pale skin carefully. The thirteen-year-old was silent as she scrubbed herself hard with a white cloth. Malin started with the smaller girl's long hair and noticed it was not properly taken care of, something she would make sure to change. 

"You should not be outside too much for a few days," the nurse said as she examined the white and pinkish hair with an expert's eyes. "Your hair is very beautiful, but the sun has faded it and it has not been properly washed in a long time, if ever. It is so stiff too, and all too thin. This will not do, I will make sure this beautiful hair will be in a much better shape in a few weeks."

Ryouko did not say anything, not giving any hint she was offended. The only sign she showed of having heard at all was the slight lift of her head.

"Why?" Ryouko said slowly.

"Why what?" Malin asked, still caught in the girl's hair.

"Why did the princess order us to live here? Why did she not save mother? Why… why are you trying to be nice to me?"

Malin sighed slightly and smiled sadly. "I believe her majesty met your mother last night. But the king was there as well and her majesty can do nothing in his presence without speaking out of turn. On meetings and such she can since her opinion is whished, but not otherwise. But I also guess your mother was not welcome here in the first place, so he sent her away. Milady could do nothing to prevent it."

Ryouko sobbed pitifully. "But why is she giving us rooms here? Will she really sacrifice us?"

"The princess would rather cut her own throat off than do something like that," Malin said sternly. "I believe your mother begged Milady to show mercy towards you. Her majesty knows better than deny a plea from someone who is honest in the heart. And about me… I am kind to you because I think I know what you are going through. I too lost my family, a long time ago."

"You lost your family? Did you have brothers and sisters? Did you have both your mother and father?" Ryouko asked and turned around slightly to look at Malin's face.

"Yes. I had a twin sister, Mina, and I had many others around me. We were not rooted anywhere, so we travelled around together. So there were my cousins and grandparents too. All of them were executed."

Ryouko gasped and turned around to face the still gently smiling Malin fully. "W-what happened?"

Malin took another cloth and started to gently clean Ryouko's tearstained face. "It is against the laws to hurt a child other than in lecturing or punishment for breaking the house laws. But my family abused me. If the prince had not been there and saved me I would have been dead now. My father stepped up and tried to convince prince Atemu it was punishment for something I had done. I can not remember the event precisely since I was so badly beaten I just barely was conscious. My father was stupid and tried to slap the prince. Everyone was taken to a very angry king right away. I was taken to the castle healer Lisa. Soon after I heard my family was executed, so I decided to stay with the princess. She has taken care of me ever since."

Ryouko was silent. Malin seemed like she had lived a rough life before. Had she been… like her?

"M-Malin? Were you… did your parents force you to…?"

"My family was thieves. I was used as their spy," Malin said without needing to hear Ryouko's obviously sensitive question.

Ryouko blinked surprised and then blushed.

"But…" Malin started again, with a much softer face. "The princess was the first one to love me. If I could ever wish for anything I would wish I was born as Lady Yuniko's sister."

Ryouko blushed even more. She could not deny she wished the same thing. "But… what does the princess intend to do with us?"

"Do not worry," Malin said and started with Ryouko's hair again. "Her majesty has the purest heart in this world. She will make very sure you are comfortable and safe here."

* * *

Washed, carefully scrubbed, dressed in warm cloths and hair done, Ryouko and Kyoko was showed around the castle by Malin and the errand girl Rebecca, a very cute girl with wide, green eyes, blonde hair and sun-kissed skin. 

"This is where the servants usually eat," Rebecca told the two sisters. "Malin is an excuse since she is the nurse of the princess, so she eats with her majesty."

"The kitchen is over there," Malin said and pointed at a room from where it smelled good from food and spices. "Come and say hello to the chef."

Chef Solomon had been informed from Mokuba about the two girls and had a surprise gift ready for them.

"Greetings chef," Malin said from the door and curtsied slightly for the master of the castle kitchen. "We are showing those two girls around the castle."

Solomon turned his kind eyes toward the group of girls and chuckled slightly. The two new faces looked like he was about ready to eat them. "Have the beauties eaten recently?" he asked knowingly.

Malin and Rebecca looked at the sisters, who shook their heads in denial. Malin immediately panicked. "Oh my Goodness! Why did you not tell me earlier? Chef could you…"

Malin stared dumbly at the two plates of chicken and vegetables Solomon suddenly had in his hands.

"Our dear princess is very careful when it comes to the health of others," Solomon explained. "She told me you can eat in the little dining room."

Malin and Rebecca nodded and took the plates, curtsied and left with the two close behind. Malin saw too that both of them thanked the chef properly before she let them out of the kitchen though, just like the princess had done with her many years earlier.

Malin had never seen two girls so alike herself. Both of them reacted just like she had done with everything but the blackberry juice. They had seen it before.

"It is getting late," Malin said suddenly with strangely soft voice. "The princess will be worried about you if you are gone for too long."

Kyoko was the first one to speak up. "Why would a princess like her worry about us? I mean… she has a kingdom to care about. Why waste that attention on us?"

Rebecca and Malin smiled knowingly at each other before they started to lead the way back to the sisters' rooms.

"I believe you will realize all the answers if you get to know the princess closer," Rebecca said surprisingly gentle. Both Ryouko and Kyoko had realized the young girl had a hot temper and a fiery personality. Malin always was sweet and gentle, but Rebecca was absolutely not.

"If you knew how much time her majesty wastes on loving her kingdom, her people and her friends, I am positive you will be surprised. Her heart is too pure to hate anything or deny anyone her attention," Malin continued, smiling to herself at the thought of the princess disobeying her father to help a slave.

"What about the things that took the prince away?" Kyoko asked, not believing anyone could not hate anything. She herself did not know enough numbers to count all the things she hated with the world.

"Our princess is too busy worrying for the kingdom to realize she hates those things," Malin said with a slight laugh. "Even if I somehow doubt she does."

The rest of the way through the castle was silent. Kyoko and Ryouko still had to let in sink in they actually lived inside the castle now. It was no dream anymore, and above it all the princess noticed them. It was even more than what they had ever been able to dream about.

* * *

Kyoko sat in her new room and watched the colour of the sky shift swiftly. From the innocent baby blue to red, orange, pink and gold, to the ink blue colour of night. She had seen it hundreds of times, but tonight is was prettier than ever. She never heard the door open and didn't notice the presence of another in the room. 

"The sunset is truly pretty tonight," the princess said softly, startling Kyoko out of her shoes. "I did not mean to scare you Kyoko," Yuniko said tenderly with the smile of someone whose heart holds nothing but love.

Kyoko was sure the princess could hear her wildly beating heart. Heat rose to her face and she blushed heavily, not daring to replay. The princess was so beautiful. Everything about her, from her long, wavy hair and all the way to the floor she stood on, was beautiful, making the rest of the world seem grey and dull in compare. Kyoko suddenly felt even dirtier than before the bath.

"You should not fear me Kyoko," the princess said softly as she walked up to join her looking at the sunset. "There is no reason for fear. But there is many things you wish to ask me. I can see it in your eyes. So ask, ask whatever you wish. I can answer them all."

The twelve-year-old looked up into bright sapphire blue eyes, which reflected the red light of the sunset and turned them almost into amethyst, like her mother's. She quickly looked down at the edge of the princess's dress, feeling unworthy to even look at such a beauty, such purity. She felt unworthy, ugly and embarrassed. What could she possibly ask without offending her? She did not belong here. She belonged in the slave village. She had no idea of how to act around a royal.

"I… Your highness, can you please tell me why… you offered me and my sister own rooms on your… your highness's level?" Kyoko was scared beyond words as she heard herself ask the question. What if she had used the wrong words? What if she had called the princess by wrong title?

"Father is furious about it, but the day he can say no to me is yet to come. Your mother, her name is Yue, is it not?"

"Yes… your highness," Kyoko answered quietly, now looking at her own feet.

"Please call me by my name. When we are alone like this there is no need for formality."

"Yes… my princess."

She couldn't help it. The word that was the princess's name just wouldn't leave her throat. She knew the name, but she had never pronounced it herself, and now she felt like she knew why.

"I guess you need time to adjust to this new order of life. But to answer your question, it was because you and I share something, something that I lost at young age and you just recently."

"My princess, I do not understand. I… I am…"

She fell down from the chair to her knees in front of the princess. Tears of confusion and misunderstanding fell from her eyes. She couldn't hold them back anymore. She didn't know what was going on, and she hated it more than anything. The princess, she was too nice and her beauty… nowhere on earth was such beauty to be seen. She felt so dirty, black with mud and sin, beside the pure princess. She had to admit everything.

"Princess, I am a child of a whore. I am lower than dirt. I should never even draw your eyes upon me. I do not deserve it. Princess, I am so dirty, so ugly. Looking at me will hurt your eyes."

What happened next made her stiff like a statue. The princess bent down and hugged her tightly to her chest. She could faintly hear the princess's heart's calm beating through the fabric of her white dress.

"You claim yourself to be dirty because you are a child of a whore. But if so, I am just as dirty as you. Because what we share, what we have both lost, is our mother. Your mother is mine. That is why I ordered you and Ryouko to live at my level. You would be princesses like me, but I can not do that to you. It is far too much responsibility that should rest on my shoulders alone. So please do not consider yourself as dirty anymore, because you are not."

Kyoko slowly relaxed into the princess's embrace. The warmth of the body that surrounded her made her feel safe, as if what was going on around the world, outside the embrace, never could reach out and hurt her. For the very first time in her life her tears was not of shame and pain, but of happiness. At first it was just a little spot of light in her heart, but then it grew and filled her heart as boiling water. She never noticed she fell asleep.

* * *

Darkness embraced the castle gently, but Ryouko was unable to sleep. She sat with her diary, her second one from the widow Mary. It was not much ink left, even if she had saved and saved all she could during the years. She tried to get all her thoughts down at the still clean page, but her feelings and thoughts were so many she had a hard time starting. At last she started as she had always done. 

_January 17, 1630_

_I am so lucky. All of my dreams have come true at the same day. We were accepted into the castle grounds and placed among the higher ranked slaves, which alone is a dream. I have never seen such a huge place and so many people living in the same place. Mother said that most of them are cleaning the castle every day, and with such a huge castle I understand why they need so many to do it. _

_But suddenly she came. The princess. I wonder how many times I have tried to imagine this girl, but all my visions of her suddenly feel very unfair and not even close to the truth. I have never seen such a beauty. At the whorehouse where my mother worked there were a lot of pretty girls, but they all look like dead weed beside the princess. She offered me a room of my own. I am not sure why, but she insisted, and I can not refuse an order of a higher class, especially not from her. I feel so ugly when she is close. So dirty I do not dare to touch her, or merely speak to her. I feel like her white dress will turn black if I touch the silky material. She also invited Kyoko to an own room. It looked so funny. Kyoko have always been so cold, calm and unaffected by her surroundings. But when the princess come close and smiles to her, she blushes like nothing else and her movements become almost clumsy._

_But I still wonder what became of mother. I refuse to believe she has been taken away from us for good. The princess herself told us, but I still refuse to believe. Why would she leave? Why would she have been taken by those creatures? I can not understand, and I can not believe. I do not know what to believe in. But as I am here, inside the castle of my dreams, my worry slowly fades away until it is just a small, stinging prick in my heart._

_The princess just showed me and Kyoko to a room where we could have a bath and clean ourselves. But even though I feel like I scrubbed my skin off, I still feel so dirty beside her._

_She told me to address her by her name. But I can not do it. She has a beautiful name, Yuniko, Unicorn. I feel like I am not worthy of addressing her like that. I know even Kyoko feel like me. I wish I could understand what the princess plans to do with us. I can not believe she would do anything dirty, like selling us away to someone. A pure heart like her… no, it is not possible. She wears her heart on her sleeve, letting it spear light all around her. Yuniko, it is a suiting name. The name of purity itself._

_The night has fallen and I, who have always been scared of the dark, I feel safer than ever before where I am in my own little room. I have a bed that could easily fit both mother and Kyoko too, but they are not here. Kyoko is sleeping a few rooms down the corridor, and one of the doors between Kyoko's and mine is the one where the princess has her chamber. Miss Malin said the two of them sleeps in the same room. She explained they had done so ever since the prince vanished since the princess is hunted by nightmares. Then suddenly I am grateful I did not see my mother go away. If I had then I too would suffer from nightmares._

_There are a lot of things I can not understand. But the errand girl Rebecca said the princess has all the answers, and that I could find them if I just got to know her better. So that is what I intend to do from now on. I am determined to get to know the princess. I will stop being so turned down. I will be the princess's friend, now and forever._


	16. Research

**I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!**

Just check my profile for information, okay? I'm too lazy to write all the information in here too.

On with the story and don't forget to review

* * *

**Research **

A week passed from the day Yugi became a Dreamer and none of the four boys showed any signs of waking up anytime soon. It was the day for reporting about the work in culture, which would be account for the class the next week. Yami and Bakura realized none of them had done anything more than just the beginning of the analysis; which was explainable since none of them had been very active in school since Yugi turned into the hospital. But when the teacher looked down at her papers she noticed something.

"Is there anyone who knows anything about the princess group? Yugi Atemu, Ryou Kazuki, Malik Ishtar and Seto Kaiba?" She looked at Yami and Bakura.

"They are at the hospital…," Bakura started. He didn't feel like telling the story over again.

"Yugi turned in last Sunday, unconscious and will not wake up," Yami explained. Malik fell into the same state last Monday, Ryou and Seto has been unconscious since Tuesday."

"How strange," the teacher said shaking her head in slight confusion. "How come everyone in the same group is in the same condition?"

Yami's and Bakura's eyes widened from confusion of what she was talking about, then widened even more when he suddenly realized what they had been doing before this all started. They looked at each other and both knew what the other was thinking. It had to have something to do with the painting.

Yami bit his thumb slightly in thought, his thoughts fixed on the black book that had burned up a few days ago, shortly after Ryou and Seto had became Dreamers. If he had been able to read more from it then maybe… he didn't know what.

Bakura suddenly remembered the diary Ryou had read when Yugi had fallen unconscious. It was left in Ryou's room where it had fallen. Maybe he could find some answers there.

"Man, are you gone today too? You're a freak, Yami," Jono suddenly said after trying to get his friend's attention by waving a hand in front of his face.

"Jono?"

"Oh? So you can see me? What's wrong now?"

"Isn't it strange that it is only the ones who were working with the painting of the Battle Princess have fallen into dream state?" Bakura asked instead.

"Dream state?"

The three boys turned to a slightly blushing Anzu who had just come over to them.

"We may need help," Yami said looking at Bakura.

"This only time I believe you're right," Bakura said with a heavy sigh. What didn't you do for your brother?

Honda suddenly hopped up beside Bakura and stared wide eyed at the two arch enemies. "Who are you? What did you do to Bakura and Yami?"

Bakura was about to beat Honda to a bloody heap of bones when Yami answered. "Their little brothers turned into the hospital and now we will try to find out the reason."

"And what will you do if you fall into the same state?" Jono asked.

"Hope to join Yugi wherever he is at," Yami answered with the smile of an older brother.

"Let's go home to me and start with the diary Ryou was reading," Bakura said.

"But school isn't over yet," Honda said.

"You can stay if you want, our brothers are more important than school anyway."

"I'll come with you," Anzu said determinedly. "I have no idea of what's going on, but I have a feeling I may be able to help."

"You're a great friend Anzu," Yami said with a bright smile.

Jono looked at Honda who just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head before both of them ran after the trio out of school.

* * *

"Here is the diary Ryou was reading when Yugi fell unconscious," Bakura said and picked up the old book. It was well taken care of, with dull but yet red leather cover. There was a few threads left where there once had been a ribbon, but it was ripped off through the many years it had swished hand. 

"Before we start, could you tell me what has happened?" Anzu asked.

"My brother, Yugi, turned into the hospital last Sunday. The day after his new friend Malik fell into the same state, and two days ago Bakura's brother Ryou and our classmate Seto also became Dreamers as the doc calls them."

"How strange," Anzu stated.

"Even more strange," Bakura said after looking through the diary swiftly. "This is Ryou's handwriting."

"You're kidding," Honda said, taking a look at the nice writing.

"Here," Bakura said taking some notes Ryou had done from his desk so everyone could see. "It is no difference. This is certainly Ryou's writing."

"But that's impossible," Yami stated. "Yugi said they would borrow it from the one who owns the painting."

"And the date says it's from the seventeenth century," Honda said looking at the date. "Hey, is that my name?" He pointed at a word that looked suspiciously much like Honda's name.

Bakura began to read aloud.

_April 29, 1630_

_The princess's fiancé is up to something. I just know it. Why would an old pig like him wish to marry our princess? I would understand if her hand was for his son, but apparently he wish to have our princess's kingdom for himself. He does not know how powerful the princess is. Sir Honda risked losing his place in the council if he did not stop trying to make the princess break the engagement. He has a great heart, Honda. He tries to hard to fill the empty place as her father now when the king is no longer with us._

_The princess has stopped smiling. Miss Malin said that the princess is slowly losing to the evil._

"There is much more written, but some of the words is unreadable. The writer was obviously crying."

"Malin sounds slightly like that Malik's name, don't you think?" Yami asked the rest.

"Like a female version of it?" Jono said.

"Miss Malin? Princess Yuniko of Scotland's nurse?"

Everyone turned to a slightly confused Anzu.

"Have I missed something?" Jono suddenly asked looking from one to another with confusion written all over his face.

"Well, in my family there have been this fairytale told through generations since the seventeenth century," Anzu started, looking shyly at the others. "I have never believed in it but grand grandpa always talks about it. And he sometimes mentions the princess's nurse Malin."

"What are we waiting for?" Yami said, already out of the door.

"Let's go to your place, Anzu," Bakura said pulling the confused girl with him. Honda and Jono had no choice but to run after them.

"Can you tell us what you know of the princess?" Yami asked Anzu when they were on their way to her place. Jono and Honda seemed to be forgotten for now. Bakura still had the diary in his hand.

"Well, since I've never believed in the stories I'm not really sure, so you can't trust me."

"It's all we have right now, so spill," Bakura encouraged.

"Well, if I remember things right my forefathers lived in France and grand grandpa brags about we used to be a royal family, I don't mind that fact though, even if it's false. Whatever, one of my ancestors, a princess I never picked up the name of, travelled to Scotland and engaged the prince who was princess Yuniko's older brother. But she returned about three years later with a broken heart and told her father the prince had died. I don't remember why though."

"Hey, didn't they have notes?" Honda suddenly asked. "Seto and the other's I mean," he explained at the others confused eyes.

Bakura hit his forehead. "Gosh, you're right… but let's see what we can find at Anzu's first. I can't be on two places at the same time. Besides, I don't think the notes will go anywhere."

"The old man lives with you, right?" Yami suddenly asked.

"Yes, he does," Anzu answered obviously. "He is very old, and can't really see or hear properly anymore, but his head is still very clear for his age."

"Good, after we hear what he can tell us we can go back to me and see what Ryou and the others found out," Bakura decided. Yami agreed and once again Jono and Honda wondered what had happened. The arch enemies Yami and Bakura working together was a thought impossible to think and a sight they found hard to accept.

* * *

They stood completely stunned looking up at the place Anzu called her house. The four guys would rather call in mansion. It was three floors, all of them with high ceilings according to the high French windows. The garden was carefully taken care of with trees carrying early fruits of apples and pears. Softly pink fairy roses grew in perfect lines each side of the cobblestone laid path to the front door. 

"What're you waiting for?" Anzu called from the entrance. "I thought you were in a hurry."

Yami shook his head free from the strange feeling he had actually expected something like this and walked the short way up to his female friend.

Bakura frowned confused before he shrugged his shoulders and threw his surprise over the shoulder. He had to take the other two in the ears to get them moving though, making the two friends complain like little kids getting lectured by their mother.

"Mama, I have some friends with me!" Anzu called into the huge house, talking in French as was her native tongue, even if she was actually born in Japan.

The house wasn't empty of people. Actually Anzus whole family lived here, from grand grandparents to their grand grandchildren's cousins.

A short, round woman in her early fifties with shrewd blue eyes and friendly face walked into the hall and looked at the boys. Her face smiled an artful smile and she greeted them with Japanese that broke slightly with her French accent. "My, my, such handsome young men," she said and blinked friendly. "If you can wait for a moment I will serve you newly baked apple-pie."

"I'd love to, ma'am!" Jono quickly agreed with a big grin.

The woman smiled knowingly and chuckled in amusement, her eyes almost disappeared in the fatness of her kind face.

"Could you serve it in the dining room?" Anzu asked her mother. "And have you seen old Pa?"

"Old Pa is waiting for you in the living room. I will take the pie there."

Yami thought the woman was charming. Her shrewd eyes told him she could probably make anyone do whatever she wished for her if she wanted.

"Your mother is very interesting… with charm," Bakura said as he looked at where the woman had disappeared.

"Don't talk to her too much," Anzu warned them as she led the way to the living room. "She is the sweetest you can find, but she is sly."

"I figured that much," Honda said, glancing over his shoulder the way Anzu's mother had disappeared. He was the only one who didn't like her.

"Old Pa is over a hundred years old, so don't be surprised by his appearance. He is very sharp even if he's old."

They entered the living room, where the youngest children were already collected around a very old, thin man with his face filled with wrinkles. His eyes had a clear blue-green colour that was half-hidden under his heavy eyebrows. His creased hands trembled slightly from his high age and there were not many hairs left on his head.

"Is it little Tea and her friends?" old Pa asked as he peeped at them with his old eyes. His voice was a little hoarse, but still clear and filled with the pride his body had lost long ago. He talked in heavily accented Japanese, but he also talked slowly so there were no problems in understanding him.

"It is, old Pa," Anzu said as she sat on her knees on the floor and placed her hands on the old man's lap. He turned his surprisingly big ear towards her so he could hear her properly. Anzu had long ago been used to the old man's ability to know when someone left or was coming to the mansion.

"How many are they?" old Pa asked, peeping at the blurry figures that were too far away for him to see.

"They are four, old Pa," Anzu answered. "They all come from my class in school. We wish to hear the story of princess Yuniko of Scotland."

Old Pa nodded and squeezed her hand slightly. "Your mother is soon done with the pies. Let us wait for her."

Anzu nodded and went back to her friends. "Old Pa is psychic," she said lowly, making sure the old man couldn't hear. "That's how he knew we were coming. He finds it unnecessary to only tell a small group of people his stories since he knows he has so little time left to tell them."

The boys nodded and sat down on the pillows that lay around on the floor as they waited for Anzu's mother to serve the pie. The other children around them looked at them curiously and one of the older girls moved her pillow so she sat beside Bakura, who just gave her a nod and slight smile as greeting.

The sounds of footsteps and the sweet smell of newly baked apple-pie came from the entrance to the living room and the round woman entered with two pies, one in each hand. Behind her walked three other girls, these older than Anzu, with plates, spoons, vanilla custard and another pie. Anzu's mother had made sure it would be enough for everyone. She greeted old Pa and served him a piece hot pie and custard with the warning it was too hot for him to eat yet. Everyone else served themselves with pie where they were placed on a table. When everyone was seated again Anzu's mother squeezed his hand as a signal he could start his story.

"It was… in 1625," old Pa begun, his clear eyes taking a far off look. "King Nicolaus III Lukas of France had for a long time corresponded with the king of Scotland, Loutus of Scotland. Loutus had a son, one with beautiful blue eyes, the most handsome face ever seen on a human and the body of a god. This is what Loutus himself wrote in his letters."

There was a pause where Bakura took the chance to check if Ryouko had been at the castle by that time. To his disappointment he found that she had arrived to the castle five years later.

"King Lukas decided he wanted one of his daughters to marry the prince. His two daughters, the most beautiful to be found in France, travelled with their father to Scotland in order to meet the prince. After three months the king came back with his oldest daughter, leaving the younger… princess Tea von Lily as the prince's fiancée."

Yami and Bakura exchanged glances with a wide eyed Anzu. They had all heard the old man call her Tea.

"Princess Tea sent a few letters where she described her time with the prince in the white castle. She wrote how she could observe him train with the guards and soldiers for hours, just admiring him. She also wrote about the prince's very close relationship with his younger sister, princess Yuniko of Scotland. The little princess was a strange child, princess Tea wrote. The little one always had her nurse around, following her like a puppy. The nurse, Miss Malin, was no puppy though. She was very sharp and had a strong will. She admired the princess above all else and was very good at throwing knives as well as using them to fight. The princess too used to join her brother's training with the soldiers. Princess Tea wrote how she had witnessed the fourteen year old girl defeat six experienced soldiers on her own."

Old Pa paused and took a little bite of the pie and sipped a little water to clear his throat. Bakura wished he had taken a notebook with him or something. Yami was biting his thumb in thought while the others just moved slightly closer, eager to hear the rest. Jono and Honda thought it was strange for a princess to fight.

"But after three years the princess suddenly returned to France… alone." Old Pa closed his eyes and his old face mirrored the sadness of his story. "Her face was striped from the tears she had cried. Her before always happy eyes held grief and had lost their strong spark of life that had always been burning in her eyes. The prince was dead. After three years of engagement the prince had fallen ill and later on also died. Princess Tea told her father about the great loss with broken voice and also told about the princess, whose heart was as shattered as Lady Tea's. She said that princess Yuniko of Scotland had witnessed her brother's death, something princess Tea was luckily speared from. Lady Yuniko is said to have a heart of the purest of gold, filled with wisdom and care. She sent princess Tea home because there was nothing left for the girl there anymore, because in Scotland Lady Tea could only mourn the loss of the man she loved. But princess Tea also told her father that princess Yuniko was more broken in her heart than she was, and still she stood tall in order to protect the kingdom of Scotland."

Anzu shivered slightly. Never before had she heard the story being told with such reality in the words. It no longer felt like the old fairytale she had been told since she was a kid. It was history. Yami, Bakura, Honda and Jono leant closer, as if afraid to miss any of the words leaving the old man's lips. Old Pa looked over the faces of his young listeners, seeing them hanging on to every word.

"Princess Tea never loved any other man. She never completely regained the spark of life in her eyes. Often she would tell anyone who wanted to listen about the princess of Scotland, rarely mentioning the prince who she had truly loved with all her heart. She became the storyteller of her family, telling stories from Scotland to her older sister's children. She explained how princess Yuniko could talk to animals and about her two pets, the white mare Unicorn and the golden eagle Sky. She used to say that the princess was so pure she could tame the Devil himself if she tried."

Old Pa smiled slightly and shook his head as he decided it was now time to finish this story.

"Princess Tea died twenty years after her return to France. On her deathbed she whispered words that are a mystery to this very day: My love was taken by evil. The purity was forced to stay strong. May God show mercy to the victims' souls. Let princess Yuniko be reunited with her brother Atemu."

Anzu, Bakura, Honda and Jono looked at Yami who had paled into a sick, white colour. His eyes were wide not only from chock and confusion. In his mind rang the words he had seen in the black book:

_Sister, I can not believe how much you have grown into the role as the ruler of our father's kingdom._

_I curse myself forever._

_I will take you away to a place where we can live far away from our kingdom._

Princess Yuniko of Scotland.

Prince Atemu.

What did this all mean?

* * *

_**Originally I wanted to end the chapter here, but since I've been so mean to you all and not updated for three months (or is it four?) I add another chapter to this one, making the story 1 chapter shorter than planned.**_

* * *

"My heart still hasn't gone back to my chest where it belongs," Jono said as he carefully sat down on the floor in Ryou's room. 

"This has taken an eerie turn," Bakura agreed from his position on the bed.

"More than eerie," Yami said. "Right down creepy. Something is not right with this story. There are still too many pieces missing to realize the ones we have actually fit together."

"True," Anzu said from where she sat beside the door staring into thin air. "I have never really listened to the story, and I have never heard it been told like that. It was like old Pa had been there and witnessed it all himself."

"That's right," Honda nodded. "But the story is from seventeenth century, so if he's not immortal or have some kind of elixir that extends his life he could never have been there."

"Old Pa is about 106 years old, born 1897," Anzu informed.

"He might as well have studied the letters the princess Tea wrote," Bakura said. "If the princess belonged to your family it is not impossible the letters are still in your possession."

"We should look through the notes of the others," Yami said as he picked up a few notes from the floor. He recognized Yugi's handwriting.

The other four nodded their heads and picked up papers that were lying around the floor where they had been dropped the moment Yugi fell unconscious. Bakura hadn't been in the mood or had had the energy to clean the mess before.

"I wish I had that black book now," Yami mumbled to himself.

"Which black book?" Jono asked confused.

"Oh? Didn't I tell you? I found this black book in my room last Saturday. It was also some kind of diary but it didn't have any dates. But the on first page there was this image of Yugi in drag."

"Yugi in drag?" Honda repeated and his eyes looked up at the ceiling as he imagined Yugi in a dress. "He could look cute in drag," he said with a silly grin and slight blush.

Yami threw a very murderous glare at him and if eyes could kill Honda would have died on the spot.

"It's my brother you're talking about," he growled.

"Sorry," Honda apologized from where he tried to hide behind Jono who didn't look so eager to be an object for Yami's glare.

"If you had been good at drawing I would ask you to draw a copy of it," Bakura said from the bed, idly looking through Ryou's notes.

Yami snorted offended as he took a blank paper and a pencil from Ryou's desk and started to draw. He wasn't bad at drawing. It was one of the things he enjoyed most, but he hadn't found much inspiration or motivation to do so for some time. He quickly drew a copy of the ink drawing he had seen in the black book. It wasn't as good as that one, but good enough.

"Here," Yami said throwing the drawing Bakura's way, but when it returned to him he got up and placed it beside his enemy, daring him to say it was bad.

Bakura stared at the drawing of the girl.

_She sat there trembling and alone. He stepped up and kneeled in front of her, wishing to see her eyes._

"_Look at me, princess," he said in a soft whisper. _

_The princess hesitated before she opened her dull eyes coloured of heaven itself. The same eyes he had fallen so deeply in love with._

Bakura blinked in surprise. Where had that image come from? He had never seen the girl before in his life, that much he knew.

"Speechless Bakura?" Yami suddenly sneered, thinking his enemy's surprised gaze was because of his drawing.

"A little. The girl's really cute."

Yami looked about ready to strangle Bakura, but Jono held him back.

"Now we take it easy. I think Ryou would like to still have his brother in life if he ever wakes up."

Ouch, that hurt. Upon being reminded of why they were doing this the hostility between the two died almost instantly. Jono realized his mistake and mumbled an apology no one listened to.

"The queen was banished?"

Everyone turned confused eyes to Anzu who had busied herself by reading through Malik's notes.

"The queen? The princess's mother?" Honda asked stupidly.

"Yes. Look at this. 1615 the king of Scotland banished his queen. The queen had to leave her three year old daughter at the castle with the promise to return. But she never did."

"So the princess was born 1612?" Bakura figured.

"Yes. It says here that the princess was born in July 4," Jono said eyeing Seto's well organized notes.

"That's Yugi's birthday," Yami said with wide eyes.

Everyone stared at each other, each one of them with their own confusion to deal with.

"If I didn't know better I would think Yugi and Yuniko was the same person," Jono suddenly said as he studied Yami's drawing.

Yami's eyes had never been wider. Jono was right! His brother and the princess _was_ the same person! There simply was no other explanation. But if that was true, then the princess's brother… was him?

Questions and the sudden realization were spinning in Yami head. But suddenly a sharp pain in the back of his head cleared his confusion. He looked up to see Bakura standing over him with the book he had hit him with in his hands, prepared to hit him again.

"Are you awake?" Bakura asked with a more than annoyed frown.

"Yes I am. And we have to go to the hospital."

"Why? Are you becoming the same as Yugi?" Jono asked worriedly.

"No, but for some reason I think we can find more answers there if we take all the notes and stuff with us. Maybe Dr Lou can help us find a way to bring Yugi and the others back to this life."

Bakura's frown deepened. What Yami said didn't make sense, but at the same time it did. If Dr Lou knew why his brother was like this, then maybe he actually could find a way to wake them all up.

"Fine," was all he said before he collected the papers along with the others.

* * *

"Dr Lou?" the nurse repeated and blinked confused. 

"Yes, the one who takes care of the Dreamers," Honda said patiently.

The nurse looked very nervous for some reason and her eyes darted around her surroundings as if afraid anyone would come and take her away at any moment.

"H-he has a day off today," she said, but she was obviously lying.

"Okay then," Bakura said. "We will just visit our friends…"

"No!"

Everyone looked at her strangely.

"There are going strange rumours about those four boys," the nurse whispered and her eyes betrayed her fear.

Yami saw an empty room and dragged the scared nurse over there, the others followed and Bakura closed the door.

"What kind of rumours?" Yami asked right into the nurse's wide eyed face.

With the door closed and not many persons outside and those five youths around the nurse felt slightly calmer. "Two nurses who took care of the Dreamers have disappeared without a trace," she whispered quietly, as afraid anyone but those in the room would hear.

Bakura had to lean closer from the door to hear. Jono felt he didn't want to listen and took place as guard at the door. The other two leant closer to hear.

"One of them disappeared the same day those other two was found, and a second one who disappeared just this morning left nothing but her hair pin and ID card lying on the floor once again at the smaller one's bed. The window was open, but when we checked for fingerprint the handle was clean. No one had touched the window. And Dr Lou hasn't been seen since yesterday night."

Bakura thought closely of this new information. Both he and Yami had noticed the tense atmosphere the day before when they visited their brothers, but this was slightly unnerving.

When Yami's cell phone suddenly rang everyone in the room jumped a feet. Yami cursed under his breath before he answered with an annoyed hello.

"_Mr. Atemu?"_ a familiar voice said over the phone.

"Dr Lou?" Yami said and blinked, surprised to hear the doctor's voice when he had just heard he was gone.

"_Yes, that should be me. Are you at the hospital?"_

"Y-yes, yes we are."

"_Oh, so Mr. Kazuki is there as well. Good, good. Then I will just come over. Wait for me in the Dreamers' room."_

"Eh… okay."

Lou hung up and Yami stared at his phone strangely. Everyone stared at him.

"Lou said he would come here and that we should be waiting in the Dreamers' room."

"Dr Lou? But… but…?" The poor nurse stared at everyone around her as if they were hiding answers she really wanted.

"I am certain he will explain himself once he gets here," Honda said with more certainty than he obviously felt. This whole story spooked him.

"The only thing we can do for now is wait," Bakura said. "Questions won't answer themselves." No one could say against that logic.

"We have moved the Dreamers to another room," the nurse said. Yami looked at her ID and saw her name was Linn. "Dr Lou ordered so yesterday, soon after you had gone home."

"Soon we are known by all the hospital staff," Bakura joked quietly with Yami as they followed the young nurse to their brothers' new room.

"Well, since we come here every day and they have to take care of you who're not a patient, who wouldn't know us?" Yami whispered back.

Bakura glared slightly at him. But they still had a common goal: to get their little brothers back. And therefore he could bear with his enemy for now.

They were taken to a part of the hospital where there weren't as much people running around in the corridors.

"This is the fifth section," Linn said quietly, barely over a whisper. "Here we usually put persons with rare and infectious illnesses. Luckily most of the rooms are empty now, but there still are four used rooms, one of them for the Dreamers. Lou was afraid someone else would become a Dreamer, like those three followed the first one. All of them were collected around the little one after all."

The others just nodded. Seto had explained how he had found Malik unconscious in Yugi's arms, and Bakura had witnessed himself how Ryou and Seto both slept holding Yugi onto firmly.

They came into a room with four beds, each of them occupied with a Dreamer. At the far wall was a window with a window hill broad enough for a small person to sit on. The walls were coloured softly yellow with a broad, calming green stripe. Nothing in this room was different from all the others.

"This must be the very first time in history the world sees the mighty Seto Kaiba blush," Jono suddenly said.

"Second actually," Bakura informed.

Jono and Honda stared at their classmate. Seto had almost always been a little distant from the groups of friends in school. He rarely smiled, but he had once proved he wasn't cold. He just stayed on his edge. He was good in controlling his emotions and face, but at some rare moments he let his cold face off and enjoyed his time.

"I believe Yugi smiled himself into Seto's heart as well," Yami said with a gentle smile at his younger brother.

"That kid is strange," Honda stated without thinking. Bakura, for the first time in his life, wanted to defend Yami. But before he could open his mouth to hiss at the brunette Yami answered for himself.

"Yugi is mysterious. So many things have been revealed since he turned in… and some of them I wish I never learnt."

Anzu, who had been quiet this far placed a comforting hand on Yami's shoulder. "What did you learn?" she asked kindly.

She didn't mean to harm. Wasn't aiming at his heart. What she questioned was out of friendly care. Yami knew, but still he slapped the girl's hand away, not able to hide the distress in his eyes.

"Yugi is not my brother," he said tonelessly, his eyes sharp with pain and grief.

Bakura felt how blood left his head in a rush. He could understand. Yami still denied the information, fought back and refused to accept. But now, with Anzu's seemingly concerned and caring question she had forced the fact to be accepted. If it showed Ryou wasn't his brother… Bakura didn't know if he would be able to live with such a fact.

"Lou said he tested our blood time and again with the same result. My mother isn't Yugi's. For some reason… mother knows she gave birth to Yugi, Lou checked it up and could stat it was true. And still… Yugi isn't my brother."

"You shouldn't take it so hard," the familiar voice of Dr Lou said from the door. He stepped in just to stop and stare at the three unfamiliar faces.

"This is our friends," Bakura explained.

Lou frowned slightly and bore his usually gentle eyes into Anzu, Honda and Jono.

"Is there something shiny inside your coat?" Jono suddenly asked, seemingly looking at a breast pocket in Lou's coat.

"You too," Lou answered. Jono stared confused at him. He didn't notice Honda too saw the shiny thing in the doc's pocket. The other three didn't notice anything.

"Where have you been?" the nurse said with her hands on her hips, a stern frown and angry look on her face.

"I am sorry, little Linn," Lou smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I figured out something about the Dreamers last night and rushed away to investigate. I am so sorry I worried you."

The trembling lip and teary look on Linn's face told everyone she had been more than worried. She had been downright scared.

"But those two nurses who have disappeared?" she asked with a small voice.

"I am still working on that," Lou said before he led the girl out. He secured her everything would turn out for the better later.

"Now," Lou said once he turned back to the five youths. "I have finally found out what those four boys have directly common." Immediately he had everyone's full attention.

"What is it?" Anzu pressed.

"I became suspicious when I found similarities in three of the four boys' blood. It seems like young Yugi, Ryou and Seto are half siblings."

Yami and Bakura lost their jaws and just stared at the doc, whose face was death serious. If Yugi and Ryou were half siblings, then… None of them managed to finish the thought in a logic way. They should know if something like that was possible. But when they thought about it again...

"My father is dead," Yami started.

"Both my parents are gone," Bakura continued. Then both of them looked at Seto.

"And Seto has no father either," Jono ended.

The five schoolmates looked at each other.

"It is another thing I find strange," Lou said as if the conversation in front of him passed him by. "And I have compared and checked, tested and checked and then checked again in order to convince myself it is not possible. But it seems like all those four boys are no boys at all."

Everyone stared at him, confused by the words that all of them subconsciously knew would come.

"All of them are girls."


	17. Another loss

A few days ago I realized I may have confused myself in the years of this story (again) Which in turn means that I have started to reread the story and found how terrible spelling I have, and I often use the wrong words. I'm working on it now and the rewritten chapters should replace the old ones as soon as I'm done with them.

While I'm at it I can confess that this story will probably (if i keep up the monthly updating) last for about another year. plus minus a few months.

Enough of that. From here on you can read what you're here for. Enjoy yourselves.

* * *

**Another loss**

Lisa finished her boring lesson about how to behave around the princess and the king. Lisa was growing very old and her memory was failing her. Often she repeated what her two students had already learnt.

"From your faces I can tell Lisa do not succeed in amusing you," a familiar, bell-like voice said from the shadows, startling the two sisters slightly.

"I wish you could announce your presence like they do when you come into the throne room or to meetings, your majesty," Kyoko said.

The princess smiled kindly and a sound like bells in the wind left her throat as she giggled. "I have told you before to call me by my name," the princess said. She wad dressed in a warm, formfitting, red dress with short sleeves and wide skirt. Her hair was tightly tied in a pigtail wreath around her head. She was up to something again.

"We know, Milady," Ryouko said and curtsied. Her still clumsy movements said she was still in training. "But… still your majesty's name refuses to leave my throat."

"I see," the princess said and her eyes became a little saddened. "I am on my way to the soldiers' training halls. Do you wish to accompany me?"

Kyoko gazed at the princess's kind face shyly. Malin was behind her as always and she nodded encouraging at the two.

"We would love to," Kyoko said and curtsied, she too with a little clumsy movements.

"Then come. Joey has promised me a fight today," Yuniko said and took graceful, dancing steps in the direction of the soldiers' halls.

Kyoko and Ryouko never grew tired of watching the princess move. Every step she took seemed to be a part of an eternal dance with the air and light around her, never missing a single step. The clear light of the early Mars sun shone through the high windows and seemed to be reflected on the princess's being. Ryouko used to take in all the princess's movements every time she saw her, and repeat the images in her head when she went to bed at night, silently hoping her own body could repeat the graceful moves in the morning. Everything new the pale haired girl found in the princess made her admire her even more.

Kyoko was slightly confused still. The memory of when the princess had confessed to her they shared the same mother was carved into her very heart. She could still feel the comforting warmth of the princess's body and hear the calm beating of her heart. When she had awakened the princess had still been there. Malin too. The princess had never let her go during the night. It made Kyoko blush slightly every time she thought of it. The princess though never seemed embarrassed about the fact she had shared the night with a dirty whore.

"I have realized you often go to the soldiers' training halls," Ryouko dared to say after fighting with herself for a long moment. "May I ask why?"

"Of cause," Yuniko said, smiling over her shoulder. "I can not let myself be unable to protect myself if it ever would be needed. So I train with the soldiers every day."

The half sisters' eyes grew wide as plates.

"B-but," Ryouko started, but was unable to formulate all the questions and thoughts that ran through her head.

"But you are the _princess_," Kyoko said, putting every single one of her sister's thoughts into words. "Are you really allowed to… fight?"

The princess just smiled at them. It wasn't the first time her friends had reacted this way. "Being a princess does not mean I am unable to defend myself. I have realized recently I am supposed to be able to fight. The evil of the north have tested my strength, and they call me Battle Princess."

Malin saw the two girls were still in chock. The image of Scotland's princess with a sword in her hands had probably never crossed any Scottish local's mind. She still clearly remembered Joey's face when he was to fight the princess for the first time. He had deeply underestimated her and had ended up laughed at by everyone who saw him try to fight the much more flexible princess. Their blond friend had been furious at the end of that day.

"My brother was the one who started to teach me how to battle," Yuniko explained as she gestured for her sisters to come along. "I was about eleven years old when I started."

Malin giggled at the memory. "And because Yuni started to battle I felt I could not just stand by and witness when the one I had promised myself to protect was taught how to use weapons. I more or less demanded the prince to teach me too. Now no one can defeat me when it comes to knives."

"No one?" Yuniko asked with a friendly, correcting glance at her nurse.

"No one except her majesty herself," Malin ended her sentence.

Kyoko had gladly asked more questions, but Joey came running through the corridor with eyes sparkling of life and excitement.

"Your majesty!" he greeted as he stopped in front of her, bowing almost as an afterthought. "Can we take the fight outside? I wish to see how long I will be able to keep the chill away from my mind."

Yuniko nodded with her eyes hungry for excitement and challenge. Joey easily adjusted to his surroundings, better than her, which meant he had advantage in the still deep snow outside.

"As you wish, Joey. You know I always look for a challenge."

Joey led the way out of the castle and into the area where the snow had been stomped into slippery ice. The ground didn't concern the princess. Her shoes had a special layer that didn't slip on ice. It was mostly because ice easily appeared in the corridors in the winter season and the king was always worried his daughter would fall and hurt herself like he had done so many times in his youth.

Malin, Ryouko and Kyoko stood at the edge of the icy area where they could watch the friendly battle and at the same time hug each other in order to keep the warmth in. Ryouko wondered how the princess could look so unfazed by the chill.

Joey drew his sword with trained ease and elegance. He stood in position as the princess carefully watched, looking for mistakes.

Yuniko drew her own sword; a 4 feet double edged blade. It was the same she had used when she fought the undead a few years ago. The old sword had transformed into this blade made of white, nameless metal. She never used any other sword.

She posited herself with the sword raised in front of her and one arm at her back.

For a few minutes nothing happened. Ryouko and Kyoko, inexperienced with battles, looked from one to another in confusion, wondering when they would start.

"They are reading each others minds," Malin suddenly whispered, so low it wouldn't disturb the fight. "It is the first battle, fought with senses and mind."

Malin hardly had finished the sentence when Joey lunched forward so suddenly Ryouko yelped in surprise.

Yuniko moved swiftly. Metal met metal in a firework of sparks as the swords sang their songs, and then they were suddenly back where they had started, as if nothing had happened.

This time Yuniko moved first and used her sword's weight to make herself move faster. Joey dodged the hard attack, but it left him stagger backwards from the force. Yuniko was already over him again. She moved too fast. Joey's sword was hit right out of his hands and the princess's white blade's edge rested lightly against his throat.

"You win, my princess," Joey confessed his defeat.

Yuniko let her blade slide back into its red sheath, hidden in the folds of her dress.

"Y-your majesty," Kyoko gasped.

"That was amazing," Ryoko said with eyes wide with slight fear of what she had just learnt and aw of what she had seen.

"Are you scared of me now?" the princess asked. Her voice was calm, but her eyes begged them to say no.

Ryouko and Kyoko shook their heads wildly, never noticing the princess's expression.

"Milady will never use her ability to harm us," Kyoko said and her eyes sought in Yuniko's for assurance.

"Of cause not," Yuniko smiled somewhat relived. "If anything, I will use my ability to protect you. Or learn you if you ever wish to."

Ryouko's eyes grew even wider. "You can teach us?" she near whispered?

Malin couldn't stop herself from laughing anymore. "Milady has trained Joey, I am positive she will be able to teach you two as well."

Kyoko looked scared at the thought of fighting. But Ryouko seemed to be eager.

"Milady, could you teach me… to use a bow?"

"Why a bow?" Joey asked curious.

"I…" Ryouko cast her eyes down and blushed deeply. "There was this man we met on the way here. I watched him hunt and saw how he used his bow. It looked so easy when he did it… and so elegant."

Yuniko just nodded, careful to not show how amused she was by her half sister's flushed face. "Of cause. But if you wish to learn from the best you might as well ask Kay."

"Who is Kay?" Ryouko asked, somewhat worried. For her inner sight she saw a muscled man with mean eyes.

"Kay is more or less living in the stable with the horses," Malin explained. "He loves his horses more than anything. There is nothing about horses he does not know."

"Come and let me present you to my friend," Yuniko said and lead the way over to the stables where she knew her friend was at. She could feel it.

"Is this Kay scary?" Ryouko asked Joey carefully.

Joey grinned broadly. "Not at all. He is kind of shy if you know what I mean."

"A perfect husband for Ryouko," Kyoko mumbled under her breath. Her sister glared draggers at her.

* * *

"Kay? Are you here?" Yuniko called carefully into the stable.

"Princess? What honours me your visit?"

Ryouko blinked as she laid her eyes on a slim, silver blond male with blue eyes. His face had a nice form and his body was used to work.

"I am here to introduce you to my little friends," the princess said and stepped aside so Kay could see the two strangers properly.

"My name is Kyoko. A pleasure to meet you, Kay," Kyoko greeted and curtsied.

Kay gave a lopsided smile before he bowed. "The pleasure is mine, young lady."

"I am Ryouko, Kyoko's older sister," Ryouko said and curtsied.

"You have a beautiful hair," Kay said as he bowed.

"Thank you… um…"

Ryouko glanced at the princess for support. Malin and Joey nodded encouraging at her. The princess just winked, her eyes saying there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Did you wish for something?" Kay asked with raised eyebrows. He looked at the princess who had her eyes locked at Ryouko, much to his disappointment.

"I wondered… is it possible that…"

Kyoko pocked her sister in the side impatiently.

"Could you teach me how to use a bow?"

Kay blinked. "Eh? Of… of cause, why not? But… could her majesty not do that?"

"You are better than me with using a bow," Yuniko smiled. "You are the best archer in Scotland after all. I simply wished my friend to learn from the best."

Kay blushed deeply, but he tried to hide it. "Of… of cause. I would be honoured to teach you, Ms Ryouko."

* * *

Snow fell thick as a cloud this evening. It was Mars 14 and Ryouko still hadn't returned from her training with Kay. Yuniko was restless and worried for them.

"Snow should not fall so heavily now," the princess stated, worry shining in her eyes. "Storms are rare in this pass of time. Something is not right."

"Shall we go looking for them?" Kyoko asked. She was so worried for her sister she clung onto the princess's arm.

"It might be dangerous," Malin said. "But both of them have a crucifix and a pearl. It should be enough to protect them."

"Not many of them should be able to come anywhere close to this castle," Yuniko said slowly. "Then the two of them really may be in serious danger."

"Milady?"

Yuniko suddenly flinched visibly and her eyes opened wide. "They are here," she whispered. Ignoring her friends' surprised calls Yuniko started to run towards the entrance. She felt how the evil came closer, and they were hungry. If they laid a finger on her friends she would ride off to their whereabouts and banish every one of them back to the dark world where they belonged.

"Daughter? What are you…?"

"They are coming," Yuniko called over her shoulder to her father. "Ryouko and Kay are still outside."

"What? Yuniko, wait!"

But Yuniko couldn't wait. She was scared. She knew the knot of fear lying heavy in her chest never meant good things. She didn't even care to put a coat on. She just ordered the gate open and rushed out into the dark. In her heart she searched for the pearls she had given her friends. She found they were not too far away from the head gate. And rushed there.

"Milady? Why are you here? You should not walk around outside in this weather. Especially not dressed like that."

"Ryouko and Kay are not back yet, Joey," the princess said and gave her friend a begging look. "Will you help me find them? They are not too far away. Just help me escort them back."

Joey looked at the other guards for a second, before he gave his warm cloak to the princess and asked her to lead the way. The princess smiled thankfully and took him by the hand and ran. She found Joey's hand warm. And his company calmed her somewhat.

"There they are!" Joey suddenly said, pointing at the two shadows fighting the wind.

The princess didn't waste any time and rushed right to them, not caring it could as well be her enemies. But she knew she would have felt that.

"Ryouko! Kay! Why are you so late? You made me worried."

Ryouko's flushed face met the princess's worried one. Yuniko could tell she was freezing. "W-we lost track of time a-and were surprised by the s-storm," she explained.

The princess embraced her half sister in Joey's warm cloak, shortly sharing some warmth. "We have to move quickly. The vampires are here already. And they are hungry."

Joey placed an arm around Ryouko's waist and the princess took Kay's hand. Her friend's face was red from the cold and he had ice in his hair. "Come. You will sleep in the castle tonight. It is warmer than in the stable."

Kay, without thinking, pulled the princess close to him, seeking her warmth. He heard how the princess gasped sharply when he placed his ice cold face on her warm collar.

"Kay, stop. We have to hurry or the vampires will find us first."

Yuniko had to force Kay off of her and then roughly pull him with her. The stableman was so cold he could not think properly.

"Princess, hurry!" Joey called from ahead.

"Come on, Kay. The faster you walk, the sooner you will be able to warm yourself at a fireplace," Yuniko tempted and pulled Kay with her. She tried to smile at him, but failed. Her fear was shining in her eyes, and she knew it.

More guards approached and one of them lifted Kay into his arms. Ryouko was already halfway over the courtyard towards the castle.

"Take him inside the castle and see to he get some dry cloths on," the princess ordered as she easily ran over the thick layer of snow towards the gate and into the courtyard. But as she got there she felt their eyes on her. She was too late. "They are here! Everyone get into the castle! _No_ exceptions! Run!"

Malin came running towards her friend, fear evident in her eyes. "Princess!"

"Go back inside!" Yuniko yelled frustrated.

A guard suddenly screamed as he was lifted into the air by strong claws. The princess jumped high and managed to grab the guard's leg. The vampire, surprised by the extra weight, dropped its prey.

"You have to hurry!" the princess yelled at everyone. She was the last in line and of cause everyone turned to see she was following. "I am coming. Now MOVE!"

* * *

"Move."

Everyone stared at Yugi instead of the seemingly crazy doc. They saw how he shivered as if he was cold. Bakura saw it was the same with Ryou and walked up to him. Ryou's face was flushed and his hands were cold.

Yami was instantly at Yugi's side when the younger one gasped. He noticed the unusually obvious scared expression on Yugi's face and hushed at him like he always did when Yugi had bad dreams.

* * *

Another guard was caught. But he was smart enough to glide out of his shirt and keep on running. Yuniko saw how a vampire aimed for Joey and was about to fire a blast of energy towards it. But she never got the chance. Partly because she was surprised by the flash of light coming from Joey, and partly because she suddenly was lifted into the air as well.

* * *

"No," Seto suddenly called, grabbing the sheets of his bed tightly. His face was angry and scared altogether.

"Princess!" Malik called from his bed, also he with a scared expression. All four of them were scared.

Yugi jolted and it looked like his skin just broke on his arms and chest, blood colouring the white sheets in crimson.

"Yugi! Come on, wake up!" Yami called, scared out if his mind. He couldn't take it to see his brother hurt. He wished he could invade Yugi's dream and chase away whatever hurt him.

* * *

Yuniko heard despaired cries from beneath. But she paid them no heed. She was busy trying to free herself from the sharp claws.

"I will not let you go, precious," the vampire said smoothly. The princess froze at the voice. It was the one-eyed one; Crow. "I will take you to a place where I can have you. And this time Aku will not be able to…"

Something small with brown feathers and sharp beak flew into Crow's back and stopped him in the middle of his sentence. Out of surprise Crow dropped the princess, who just realized how high above the ground she actually was. She couldn't stop herself from screaming. Another vampire tried to catch her, but its claws only managed to cut through the princess's cloths and skin, drawing out her pure blood, something that was as torturous to evil as salt to a snail. The vampire screamed before it fell to the ground, twisting in pain.

Yuniko landed heavily in the snow and the air was knocked out of her. She lay there gasping for a while, not noticing her surroundings.

"Princess! Are you all right?"

Joey's anxious and scared voice cut through the blur in the princess's mind and she allowed him to try and help. But she felt how another vampire dived at them. On instinct she threw herself over Joey in attempt to protect him, but something else came between them and the vampire.

"Your majesty!"

Yuniko looked up to see her father try and fight the vampire in the sky. But it bit his neck and his body fell limp.

"Father…" Yuniko couldn't say anymore. Her father was gone.

* * *

Jono felt how his heart suddenly leapt up in his throat when he saw the blood that spilled from Yugi's frail body. He felt like running up and stab something, anything that would possibly hurt the little one, but he had no idea of why this sudden desire to protect Yami's brother rushed through him. Out of ideas he turned to the doctor for answers.

"What's wrong?" Jono asked Lou. "Why is he hurting?"

"He is so deep into his dream that what happens to him in it happens to his body as well," Lou explained slowly, his eyes staring into nothing. "If he dies in his dream… he will die in reality too."

"What?" Yami started to shake Yugi harder. His heart beat so hard he was sure it would break through his ribs. Bakura went over to him in order to stop Yami from shaking Yugi too hard.

Yugi's eyes suddenly opened wide. At first Yami was relived and was about to embrace his little brother tightly, but then he noticed his brother's eyes couldn't see. He had opened his eyes in his sleep. Fright was clear in them, before it died out in nothing. "Father…"

* * *

The snow didn't fall as heavily anymore and the moon peered down through an opening in the clouds at the silent scene in front of the white castle. Two little humans sat not too far from the castle entrance. In the gate stood a group of people staring at the sky where the king had just disappeared to. A vampire lay there in the snow, almost dead. An eagle also lay there, bleeding from the chest, but alive none the less. Nothing but the falling snowflakes moved, until the princess slowly rose from her kneeling position.

Joey stood as well, prepared to support his friend if necessary. The princess walked slowly towards the castle, head hanging and her usual proud posture lost. No one tried to stop her as she walked inside. No one daring to say a single word. Joey silently gestured everyone to not follow, but Malin and Mokuba did anyway. Kyoko stayed with her fainted sister. Nothing but the echoing sound of steps was heard in the corridor. The princess never noticed how Joey's cloak fell off her thin shoulders. Nor did it matter. She was cold even with it.

Once they reached the princess's chamber everyone but the princess stopped. Yuniko walked inside, never lifting her head and looking at her friends. They all heard how she blocked the door. The princess would not see anyone tonight.

"Miss Malin," Mokuba whispered, tears burning behind his eyes, though he tried his best to hold them back. "You can sleep in my room tonight."

Malin didn't try to stop her tears. She smiled gratefully at the errand boy and took his hand, accepting his offer.

"I will stay guard here until she comes out," Joey decided. "You can go to sleep."

Malin sniffed and nodded. There was nothing they could do now.

* * *

Yuniko just stood in her room, eyes unseeing. She slowly turned her head towards the small painting on the table beside her bed. Her father had given it to her soon two years ago. It was a small painting of the small, royal family; the king, the prince and the princess. But the painting was not true anymore.

Yuniko reached out to touch the smiling persons in the picture, but her fingers met only the painted surface. She gently placed the painting face down. She was alone now.

"Do not be so hard on yourself," a familiar voice said.

Yuniko said nothing. Aku moved up to her and took her hand, careful to not touch her blood. "You know why, my princess."

"…I suppose I do. And I want you to leave."

Aku knew how it felt to lose the last shard of family. He had been alone as well once. And he also knew what the princess needed right now. "I will not leave, my princess. I will not leave you to mourn alone."

"I will not give you any more tears," the princess whispered.

"I have no desire to take your tears. I know Atemu was the only one you entrusted with your tears. With him gone you can not cry anymore."

Yuniko turned around slowly. She felt how her wounds healed thanks to something she had realized was mixed with her blood. She looked deeply into Aku's compassionate blue wells.

"I love you, my princess," Aku confessed as he kissed her fingers.

In a flash Yuniko realized that was what she needed right now; someone who loved her. Of cause she had Malin and Mokuba and Joey and everyone else. But Aku was different. He was the one who caused her pain, and the one who eased it. For the first time she was the one who pulled the other into a deep kiss. She didn't answer his confession. Just allowed him to be there now.

"I will stay with you tonight," Aki whispered into her ear. "I will be here until you fall asleep. But before the sun rises I have to return."

"I understand," Yuniko breathed. "I only desire answers. But I am certain you do not have all of them. But I will let it be tonight. Just stay with me for now."


	18. The poem

Hey everyone. I'm back with a new chapter and some new updating information. From now on... no, don't worry, I'll still update once every month. What I was going to say was that I have gotten a new job where I'm working on the weeks, so I'll only be able to update on saturdats, from now on. Why? Because the job is so hard and I'm working with my driver licence at the same time and only have some free time during the weekends.

Enough of that. I hope you'll like the new chapter more than I do. We have yet to come pass my favourite chapter, but I'll tell you when that comes. On with the story and

* * *

**The poem**

Honda walked to and fro in the meeting room. He was concerned. The responsibility of a queen could not be forced upon the princess so soon. Everyone in the council knew Yuniko had to be crowned in a soon future, and Honda was not the only one who realized it could not be handled with such ease and the use of those words. The girl had just lost the last one of her family. One by one they had been ripped away from her. She lost her mother at childhood, Honda was certain the princess could still remember it. Atemu was killed at the night of her sixteenth birthday. And now she had seen her father be killed right in front of her eyes. Yuniko couldn't shoulder the responsibility awaited from a queen so soon after such a loss.

"Sir Honda. Of us you are the one closest to the princess," Ken, a middle-aged council man, stated. "You should talk to her and convince her to be crowned as soon as possible."

"I wish it was as simple to do so as it is for you to say those words, Ken, sir," Honda said, his voice filled with frustration. "But the princess is alone now. The responsibility can not be forced upon her."

"Scotland can not be without a monarch for too long," Ken stated.

"I know," Honda yelled. "But she must be given time to mourn her father."

"There is no time," Ken said and rose from his chair. He had for a long time talked and acted out of place when the king and the princess were not around. "Those monsters are coming closer every minute. We need a monarch. We can not lead the soldiers into war with those creatures. Not if it is not for her sake."

"The princess is no tool," Honda yelled. He was loosing his temper quickly. "You talk as if she is a doll we can do whatever we like with. But princess Yuniko's heart is very unstable and delicate right now. To force her to be queen will only hurt her further!"

"Be quiet you two," an older council man said with stern impatience. "The princess has always known what is best for the people. You can not say either of you are wrong, for both of you are right. Scotland needs her queen, but to force it upon her majesty now would be cruel. We have to wait her out and prepare what can be prepared. A new stone monument shall be raised at the field as soon as the snow is gone. There simply is no more we can do for now."

* * *

Joey jerked as the door beside him opened slowly. "Milady?" he asked. It was early morning, so early the sun had not arisen yet, but the east sky was slowly coloured in grey and gold, 

"Can you come in?" the princess asked. Joey noticed it was not her usual confident voice. Sorrow and insecurity overshadowed any other feelings the princess may go through right now.

"Of cause, Yuni," the blond guard said and nodded. Using the princess's nickname was a silent promise she could tell him anything.

The door opened and Joey slipped inside quickly. It was shut and blocked shortly after him. When Joey turned to the princess he had to bite his tongue to not make a startled sound. The princess was as beautiful as ever. She had as long as Joey had known her been very meticulous with her looks. Now was no exception. She was dressed in a plain white dress that exposed both her shoulders and her skin was flawless, but her before so vivid eyes were void. They did not belong to the princess he knew.

"The council will force me to be crowned soon," the princess started with that same, sorrow-filled voice. "Father wished for me to become queen, and I believe he knew this would happen. But that is not what is important."

"Yuni, what can possibly be more important than your coronation?" Joey asked with low voice. The princess's eyes scared him to no end.

The princess shut her eyes tightly and swallowed hard. When she once again opened her eyes the grief she felt mixed with serious determination. "The vampire lord now has me right where he wants me to be. I stand alone without my family. Not as a person," she said raising her hand to stop Joey's violent protest that was on the way. "But as a ruler. Before I have always had some other of royal blood around me; brother, Lady Tea, mother, father. Now all of them are gone. Sooner or later the vampires will aim their attack straight at me. I can no longer let my people stay oblivious about the vampires…"

"But you can not survive this war if you can not trust in others to help you," Joey said seriously.

"I know," Yuniko whispered.

Joey threw all tact aside and attacked with hard words. "So why are you doing this? You know all of us are on your side. Sir Honda can love you as your brother or father if that is what you need! Kay would join the army if you asked him! Malin would carry you if you just let her! Those girls Ryouko and Kyoko would push your back if you ever fell! I could marry you if…"

Yuniko blinked in surprise when her friend suddenly hit his hands over his big mouth and blushed deeply. She had not seen that coming, and he obviously hadn't either. "Marry me?" she asked and blinked again.

Joey removed his hands and could no longer look at his friend. The thought hadn't hit him before he uttered the words. "I… uh, I did not mean it like that. I just… well… you need someone, that much is obvious. I thought… maybe… a husband could perhaps be… you know… supporting… or something."

Yuniko couldn't help but laugh. Joey looked so funny when he fought to find the right words as he fidgeted uncomfortably and blushed deeply. "You are cute, Joey," she said and walked up to him. Joey had grown one and a half head taller than her, so she avoided embracing him as she always did with Malin. Instead she reached a hand and made Joey look at her. "I know what you mean. And I understand that you are right." She let go of his face and walked up to the window. Joey noticed confused it was not closed.

"So why are you doing this?" Joey said, going back to what he was saying before. "You are selfish if you refuse anyone to help you."

"I know," Yuniko said again as she opened the window wide. "But truth to be told… I am afraid. I am scared I will lose you too. I am scared Malin, Ryouko, Kyoko, Mokuba and everyone else will be killed…" she paused for a second, thinking back at what Aku had told her during the night. She had noticed something else as well that she had to check up soon. "It does not matter what I do. People will die. I am not enough to protect this kingdom anymore… But you are not aware of how much you help me by just being near me."

Joey looked up and saw the princess smile gently at him. He realized he had never seen her like this. It was no princess who stood in front if him. It was a young woman who had just lost her family and tried her best to stay tall in a world that tried to break her. However she acted she would end up hurt. Whatever she decided she could end up… killed.

"I do not want you to be alone, Yuni," he said lowly before he could stop himself.

Yuniko smiled at him again. "I know, Joey." This time she did not care what he thought. All of her strict moral flew out the window as she hugged him and hid her face in his broad chest. "I know so well."

Joey did not protest when the princess embraced him. He relaxed under her touch and slowly hugged her back. She was warm, he noticed… and soft. Her hair was like silk or the fur of a kitten or puppy.

"But I was serious about marriage," he suddenly blurted out, immediately cursing his own mouth. He was sure it had a mind of its own.

"You were?" Yuniko asked and looked up at him.

"No," he admitted.

Yuniko laughed again. A true, amused laugh. She had to support herself on Joey to not bend over in laugher. Joey just blushed at his own stupidity.

"But it is not a bad idea," Yuniko suddenly said, making Joey stare strangely at her. She let go of him and stepped back, looking him over. "You are of noble blood after all. Your father, though his crimes, were a high ranked lord. You have lived here long enough for the council to know you are loyal and trustworthy." She paused and looked at his slightly uncomfortable face. "And you look good," she ended.

Joey had never blushed so deeply. No one had ever told him that he looked good. Yuniko couldn't help but giggle at his beet red fate.

"You think so?" Joey mumbled, peering hopefully at her.

"I never lie," the princess said solemnly. "You are as beautiful as your heart, Joey."

"Then you possess the most beautiful heart on earth," Joey said with a slightly sad smile.

"…Perhaps. Will you kiss me?"

Joey jumped back at the sudden question. "What? Why?"

"That is what lovers do, is it not?"

Joey just stared at her shy/sly eyes. It was fascinating to see how those different expressions could bee seen in a person's eyes at the same time. But then he laughed as he realized something. "Well, this is the Yuni I know." He walked up to her and lent down.

It was a kiss between friends. Joey was just happy that the innocent, cheerful princess he had learnt to love was not completely lost. He had actually never kissed a girl before, and to think that the princess of Scotland would be his first was quite amazing. He noticed her lips were soft and tasted faintly of vanilla. He liked it.

The first thing Yuniko noticed was that Joey's lips were warm. She was used to Aku's cold lips and metallic taste. She guessed it was different to kiss a living person than a dead one. And the second thought was that this was not Aku. She didn't know why, but she whished Aku was the one kissing her now. She wished Aku was the one she would marry.

"You are quite the kisser," Yuniko said once they parted. "We should do it again some time."

"Well, if we ever marry we will have to," Joey laughed.

Yuniko giggled and then made her way over to the door. "We should return to our posts now," she said. "I have worried you enough for some time."

Joey snorted. "Malin is always worried about you."

The princess paused in her movements. "I guess. She really is a little hen."

Joey just smiled and together they walked the way to the meeting room to face the council. Their childish plans about marriage would stay unknown for now. But as soon as the council brought the subject up she would tell them about their plans.

* * *

"Milady, are you sure about this?" Honda asked slowly. The princess had just walked in and announced the coronation would take place in five days. That should give the kitchen staff enough time to prepare for the banquet afterwards. 

"There is no time for hesitation now," the princess said and her voice left no room for arguing. "The people of Scotland can no longer stay oblivious about the vampires' existence. With me on the throne there is this small chance the people will not panic. If they wish to rebel against me, then let them, for I have not been just on them."

"And what if they decide to attack the castle?" Ken asked idly.

"They will not. Either way we have to tell the people the entire story, not just what is important. If we also tell them the evil is after me and that I will fight it, they should stay on their edge. I can not believe there is someone stupid enough to attack my back when I fight a war with vampires who see no difference between soldier and farmer. All they see is food after all."

The princess's words made sense. She was more than right with every word. But Honda was still insecure. He could not believe the princess was so strong she could rise after such a loss as the one last night. She had not been able to look at anyone. But whatever pain the princess felt was hidden where no one could see it.

* * *

The princess ended the meting early, leaving the preparations about the coronation in her trusted men's hands. But suddenly she felt shivers down her spine. Someone was staring at her with not so friendly eyes. But when she turned she saw no one looking at her. 

"Milady?"

Yuniko turned to Malin who stood close to the door. Behind her Ryouko and Kyoko was peering at her like shy children.

"I am sorry I worried you, Malin," Yuniko apologized.

"It is not that."

"Ryouko, are you fit enough to be up all ready?"

Ryouko hid further behind Malin. "I… your majesty found me right on time, so I am fine. Your majesty should not worry so much for me."

Yuniko smiled softly. "I promised your mother to take care of you. Of cause I worry then."

The princess saw the clear need of touch in Malin's eyes. She had been scared out of her mind last night when she saw the princess get caught by a vampire and lifted from the ground. So had Kyoko who didn't even dare to look at the princess's face.

"Come with me to the library," she said. "There are many things the four of us need to settle."

The long walk to the library was awkwardly silent, everyone deep into their own thoughts. Joey, who had not left the princess's side since they left her room, could only think about the morning's events and was bothered by the princess's refuse to trust anyone to support her, even if she knew she would not make it out of this story alive.

Ryouko went through the previous day's events again for what felt to be the hundredth time. She had gone out with Kay at noon. They had dressed after the warm weather and the winter cloak just in case. She realized that without the cloaks they would not have made it back to the castle alive. Ryouko were curious about horses since she knew nothing about them. She had never learnt to ride since only rich people could rent a horse from the inns. Kay had told her much more than she could remember and because of the conversation and training they failed to notice the dark clouds before snow started to fall. The storm came suddenly and they had the wind in the face when they turned back to the castle. In just a few minutes of walking Ryouko was freezing. When she was travelling with her mother they would always find shelter in the surroundings before the storm hit. But if they didn't return to the castle the princess would be worried. Ryouko had been ashamed when the princess suddenly appeared in front of her. She had worried her after all.

The white-haired girl could not help the little voice in the back of her mind that screamed that it was her fault the king was dead. That it was her fault the princess had been out in the storm. There was nothing that said it was not so after all.

Kyoko was afraid… and ashamed of herself. Last night she had realized that if anything happened she would not be able to defend herself or her friends. Of all four girls she was the only one who could not fight. As soon she got the chance she would ask Joey to train her. The thought of fighting still scared her, but whatever pain she would feel during eventual battles would not compare to the pain she had seen in the princess's face after the king was taken away.

Malin was hurt and scared, but most of all she was angry. Angry with the vampires that hurt the princess constantly. Angry with herself for not being enough to support and defend her friend and mistress. Angry with the king who had let himself be killed right in front of his daughter. And hurt because it felt like the princess was pushing her away. That pain just fuelled her anger. Once they were alone Yuniko would have a large piece of her mind, that much was for sure.

Once they reached the library the princess calmly dismissed everyone that was in there. Everyone left without question. The princess's authority had grown a lot since her brother died.

"Now we can talk about what is most important," Yuniko started as she walked to the far end of the library where the high windows let in the rich sunlight.

"And what is most important?" Malin asked. Yuniko snapped up some sort of contempt in her nurse's voice and felt how a dragger stabbed her heart.

"The war," she answered quietly. "I have figured not all vampires are throughout evil."

"How can you say that?" Joey asked heatedly. His temper was getting the better of him at the thought of everything the princess had lost to those godforsaken creatures. "How can you say that after all they have done to you?"

"My brother is one of them," the princess said as a matter of fact. "He can not be evil. I refuse to believe he will ever be completely on their side."

"The prince is one of them?" Kyoko asked wide eyed. She had thought the prince was killed by the vampires as the princess called them.

Yuniko nodded slowly. "It was shortly after Malin came here my brother was attacked the first time. I have been told the vampire who almost took him away that time poisoned my brother's blood. And on the night to my sixteenth birthday he came back for my brother, and left with him as well."

Sadness was clear in the treasure's eyes, but no tears were seen in them. But Malin only got angrier with the princess. She wanted to jump up and scream and kick the princess, yelling at her to give in to her sadness. She wanted to princess to cry out everything. Malin could sense the heavy stone in Yuniko's heart that refused the princess her tears. It was not fair.

"I have talked to three of the vampires, one of them being my brother," Yuniko suddenly confessed.

Joey lost his jaw and could just stare at the princess, not being able to believe it was true. Ryouko and Kyoko shivered at the thought of talking to one of those creatures from last night.

"Have you talked to them more than once?" Malin asked, not looking at her friend.

Yuniko just nodded. "One of them is named Crow. He has lost one eye and has… greyish hair I think. I have not looked at him so much. He was the one who tried to take me away last night…"

"Hold it, Yuni," Joey suddenly cut off. "You mean you have talked to those monsters in person? When? Where?"

"Every now and then when they come for me," the princess said simply, as if it was obvious. "And therefore I have been able to ask a few questions about them. I do not know exactly how it works, but vampires are undead, living dead. The only thing they know is their hunger, and desire."

"Desire?" Ryouko asked confused? "What can such monsters desire?"

"I believe it is individual from one to another since all of them were regular humans once. The vampire lord I am not so sure of though."

"Vampire lord?" Kyoko repeated. "They have a leader?"

"This is simply what I have worked out on my own from what I have been told, so I may as well be wrong. But to answer your question; yes. I believe it is something like this; the lord lives somewhere in the north with the rest of his… 'pets' so to say. He uses their desires to make them do what he wants. As far as I know he is the one who have ordered to expose me."

This time Malin looked up with eyes wide with sudden realization. "That time… at the field."

"Was a set up so that the vampire lord could test my strength. For the vampires I am not a usual human princess. They call me Battle Princess. Before mother left she told me something happened when I was born. I believe that whatever happened is the reason the vampire lord's desire is me."

"You?" Malin whispered with fear in her wide, purple eyes. "He makes you suffer…"

"Only to make me an easy target," Yuniko finished her friend's sentence. The princess was inwardly glad Malin had not stopped talking to her. "The lord is after me, and the one eyed one is after me as well. But Crow's desire is only to have me. The night of my brother's death I heard him say he would marry me…"

"**WHAT?"** Joey burst out, but as soon as he realized the yell came from him he blushed deeply and looked anywhere but at the girls that stared strangely at him.

"Yes," the princess continued, trying hard to keep a straight face. "He said straight to my face he loves me and that he would be the one I marry. But his heart holds no love. Only desire. Crow only lusts for my body. This far I have been lucky there are those who defend me. The first time it was my brother, though as a vampire. Last night it was Sky who saved me."

Malin gulped. "Sky… do you know how he is, Yuni?"

"I can still feel him in my heart. He will be fine in Joel's care. I can not believe the vampires' poison work on animals as well. But talking of which. What happened with the vampire that touched my blood? I only remember seeing it lying in the snow."

The tree girls made disgusted faces before Malin spoke up. "I took a look at it this morning. The flesh was burnt to the bone and smelled as if it had been dead for a long time. But… why did it react like that just by touching your blood, Milady?"

Yuniko sighed and looked out of the window. She had hoped she wouldn't have to tell her friends this. "There is something in my blood that is poisonous for, not only vampires, but for evil in general. This means that a drop of my blood is the best protection a human can ever have towards evil… why I have given it to you."

Her friends' eyes widened in shock and sudden realization.

"This," Ryouko whispered, showing the pearl around her neck. "This is your blood?"

"The pure material mixed with my blood, yes. Using my magic I can distillate it, free it from the colour of blood, so that no one would become suspicious. I figured you would not accept it if you knew what it really was."

Malin stood up slowly and walked over to the princess. Roughly she took her treasured princess's right arm and pulled up her sleeve to expose the scar in the crook her arm.

"You idiot!" she suddenly yelled and hit her fists on the princess's upper chest. The pain, hurt and anger in her could no longer be held back. It came out with such a force Joey and the sisters did not dare to interfere. "Why? Why do you have to go so far just to protect us? Why do you have to suffer on your own? Why can you not be completely honest towards me? How can you lie straight to my face and say you are fine? Why must you push me away? I love you, Yuniko! Why can you not just let me do that without keeping me away from you? You promised I could stay close to you! Can you not even keep that simple promise?"

Yuniko was at shook. Malin cried loudly and griped her shoulders so tightly it hurt. There was nothing Yuniko could say to her defence, for all that Malin blamed on her was true. Not even an explanation could she give. At the moment she felt like a monster. A monster that faked smiles and laughs just to hurt her surroundings.

Slowly Yuniko embraced Malin's trembling body as the girl continued to cry loudly. It would be a relief to cry, but she knew she could not.

Ryouko walked up to the two and softly embraced both of them from the side. She too had tears in her eyes, tears of helplessness. Kyoko clung onto the princess from her other side, holding the treasure's dress firmly and cried for the same reason as her older sister. Joey walked up and embraced Yuniko and everyone from behind. He rested his head on top of Malin's, bitter knowing shining in his eyes. If the princess died, Malin would kill herself.

"I will not ask you to forgive me, Malin," Yuniko whispered. With everyone so close she could not avoid letting the others hear, but at the moment it did not matter. "You are right when you stat that I am pushing you all away from me. The only reason I can find is because I am afraid. I am just as afraid as everyone else. But if I let it show Scotland will fall into the hands of Chaos. I have to stay strong and not let my fear and uncertainty show. But you, Ryouko, Kyoko, Joey, Mokuba, Honda… you are all so important to me. You make me wish I was an ordinary princess, not the Battle Princess at war with the evil of north."

"…You should never regret being born into this world," Ryouko suddenly said. The princess looked down in the slightly shorter girl's gentle, brown eyes. "Mother often told us that. Every life has a purpose. It may not look like it when you are working in dirt from morning to night every day until the day you die. Many humans believe we are born, live and then just die. But all of us are born into a certain role of life, and we have to fulfil that purpose. It is God's will."

Yuniko smiled softly and rested her head on Ryouko's. "I know that you are right," she said. "We do all have a purpose, and mine is to defeat the vampires."

When Malin finally stopped crying Yuniko led her to the chair she had occupied before. Once Malin sat in the chair again the nurse spoke up with a voice hoarse from crying. "You said you had talked to three of those monsters; the prince, Crow… who is the last one?"

Yuniko hesitated with her answer. "His name is Aku," she told her friends then. "He is the one who turned Atemu into one of them. He is the one who led the army of undead towards the castle four years ago and killed father Scot. And he was here last night as well."

"That guy must be the lord's general or something," Joey hissed.

"Possible. But Aku is not throughout evil," the princess stated, making everyone look strangely at her. "It is true Aku is the one who have taken my family away from me. But each time I have talked to him he has asked for forgivingness and explained he have to follow the lord's commands. And each time I meet him I feel no evil from him, at least not if it is only him and me around. Four years ago at the battlefield Scot walked in on me and Aku. The gentleness he showed towards me vanished and he attacked father Scot. I can not remember the event clearly since I fainted."

"Have he also asked you to marry him?" Joey asked mumbling.

Yuniko couldn't hold back a short laugh. "He has told me he loves me. But not worded his desire to marry me. So you can be calm, Joey."

"Have you asked her majesty to marry you?" Kyoko asked curiously, looking closely at Joey who looked away to hide his deep blush.

"Of cause not! What makes you even think the thought?"

Malin glanced at the princess questioning. When Yuniko nodded the nurse could not hold back her rich laugher. "You have! You have asked Milady to marry you!" she laughed.

"I have not!" Joey denied loudly, blushing like mad.

Malin, Ryouko and Kyoko bent over in laugher and not even the princess could stop herself, even if she honestly tried.

"You are cute, Joey," she said and smiled.

"And you are mean to me, Milady," Joey muttered.

"My dear Joey. I can keep no such secrets for my nurse. She can figure them out faster than you make them."

Malin felt a lot better now when she saw her best friend and princess laugh from her heart again. Joey was invaluable treasure. It was unbelievable how easy he could make the princess laugh just by his sheer cuteness. He had a funny nature that the princess found amusing. They would make a good couple if they married. But at Joey's cute denial she could not help herself.

Someone cleared his throat and attracted the five friends' attention. Councilman Ken stood there with a serious frown on his face.

"What do you wish for, seeking me out here, Sir Ken?" the princess asked, covering her annoyance under a patient mask.

"I simply desire the princess's presence during the meeting concerning her majesty's coronation. There are a lot of things you must know."

"The meeting will be moved till this evening. I have much more important things to discus with my friends," Yuniko said calmly.

Ken bowed slightly. "Forgive my ignorance, your majesty, but I can not see the importance of your conversation,"

"We happened to fall off topic for a moment," the princess explained, never letting her annoyance show.

"Once again forgive me my ignorance, your majesty. But how can a serious issue turn into something so entertaining it makes your majesty laugh?"

Malin noticed how the princess's back became straighter and how she stretched her limbs. Yuniko was becoming impatient and irritated. She also noticed the spark in Ken's eyes. He had something in mind, but she could not figure out what. If the princess could not get rid of him Malin promised herself she would kick the man far out of the princess's sight.

"Apparently you find my amusement not suiting me," the princess said and her eyes narrowed slightly. "But it is not yours to decide my acts and reasons. If you keep talking out of place to me you will soon be searching for a new job. And I believe you do not desire such a punishment in those rough times."

Annoyance was clearly seen in Ken's poisonous green eyes. He did not like to be told off by a woman younger than him. In his opinion there should be a man on the throne, not this little child of a girl.

"As you please, your majesty," he said lowly and bowed. "I will inform the council about your decision."

Yuniko was silent as she watched her councilman walk out of the library. "He has changed with the years he has spent in the castle," she stated worriedly.

"He is taking too much freedom in his way to talk," Malin agreed. "Obviously he is not found in taking orders from Milady."

"He looked like Milady was just a twelve year old little girl," Kyoko stated.

"That is what he believes me to be," Yuniko informed with a frown on her beautiful face. "He will mean troubles on me in the future. But I can do nothing about him at the moment. Without evidence of crime I can not send him away."

"Just be patient, Milady," Joey said, glaring in the direction Ken had disappeared to. "He is up to something nasty. Just wait him out and you will have a bunch of reasons to throw him out."

Yuniko nodded her head sadly. Ken had been so loyal towards her father, but that did not have to mean he was going to show the same loyalty to her. Her innocence did not have the same effect on humans as on animals.

"Father once told me I can find the answers of the mystery around my own birth here in the library. Will you help me find them?" she asked, getting back to the reason she had taken them here in the first place.

"Of cause," Ryouko said with a smile. "Are we looking for a book?"

"I can not say, little Ryouko. Maybe are we looking for a passage or some kind of clue in here. Malin and I have searched through the library once before. But five pairs of eyes sees better than two. The five of us should be able to find something. I believe we will know what it is once we find it."

Everyone nodded determinedly and started looking for whatever it was. Ryouko looked through any suspicious looking book she laid her eyes on. Kyoko, thinking logical as always, looked behind the lines of books to find any hidden book. Malin and Joey quietly discussed the library's possible hidden passages with help of the pattern in the ceiling, the floor and the way the bookcases were placed. Yuniko slowly walked up and down the bookcases, trying to feel out something.

It was late afternoon when Kyoko suddenly called from the top of a bookcase. "Princess, I have found something!"

Joey and Malin abandoned the open fireplace they had been examining. Ryouko took the bible she had just picked out with her in her rush. But still Yuniko, who had been almost in the opposite part of the room, was there first, catching Kyoko when she almost fell down the high ladder.

"What have you fond, little Kyoko?" Yuniko asked, still holding the somewhat disorganized Kyoko firmly in her embrace.

The younger held up a thin book with red and black cover triumphing. On the cover "Battle Princess" was written with silver letters.

"I found it in a hidden locker at the top shelf," she said smiling proudly. "It was creaked open so I got suspicious."

"I am so proud of you, my beautiful star," Yuniko prised her little half sister and hugged her closer to her chest. Kyoko blushed but smiled happily none the less.

"Battle Princess," Malin started as she brushed dust away from the book's cover. "That is what the vampires call you, Milady."

"And I believe I know why. Somehow the vampire lord knew of my ability the moment I was born."

The girls and Joey settled in a sofa close to the open fireplace. Yuniko took the book and opened it carefully. At the first page was an ink-drawing that seemed to be copied from a painting. Without colour it was hard to see who the person in the middle was, but they all knew it was a woman. No male would ever even dream of fighting in a dress. The woman stood with her sword raised over her head and screamed at the monsters that was hovering over her. Everywhere were monsters' ugly faces that seemed to try and take a bite of the girl.

Yuniko turned page and looked at the rhythmical written lines of words. Four lines on every page.

"It is a poem," Ryouko stated surprised.

"It looks like it," Yuniko agreed. "According to father it was written by father Scot's grandfather.

"Father Scot was a priest and close friend of prince Atemu," Malin explained for Ryouko and Kyoko, who had never met the priest.

Yuniko read the poem aloud.

_In times of fear and pain_

_They will break the binding chain_

_The Battle Princess born again_

_To protect the world of men_

_---_

_What is gained is what is lost_

_Win the battle at all cost_

_Stripped of what is beautiful_

_The lord will still be vengeful_

_---_

_In a place where belief is not_

_Bonds are tied in this painful knot_

_Trust is what is torn_

_And love is all too worn_

_---_

_Sorrow and grief in the darkest night_

_One heart still filled with light_

_The word I seek is now and then_

_Shining through the darkest den_

_---_

_Give me once again this feeling_

_The lord for it is kneeling_

_The opposite of grief and sorrow_

_Save the light of tomorrow_

_---_

_Only clues can I give you on the way_

_Before you in the battle pass away_

_This light will never leave your chest_

_If so you give in for eternal rest_

_---_

_What is it the dark lord wishes to hide?_

_Your love, your home, your pride?_

_The star in her heart is hiding_

_And the darkness itself is blinding_

_---_

_With only this I leave you here_

_To find the rest on your own, my dear_

_The star in her is the word I seek_

_In its light even darkness will retreat_

Joey couldn't help but scratch his head in pure confusion and tiredness. Of everyone in the library he was the one who didn't get a thing.

"Clearly the text reveals something we have to find in between the lines," Malin stated and leaned back. "The only question is what."

"I do not think the meaning behind the poem is hidden," the princess said slowly. "I am positive it throws the word it seeks right at our faces without once mentioning it."

"What is the word, Lady Yuniko?" Joey asked.

The princess sighed tiredly. "I do not know. But still I am sure I have the answer of my questions right here, showed up under my very nose. Still I can not see them."

"Can not find the forest for all the trees," Ryouko said quietly for herself.

"Excuse me?" Yuniko said with eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Oh, forgive me," Ryouko quickly said. "It is a saying I heard once. It means that you can not see the answer though it is right before your eyes and that you are too concentrated on the different parts to see the whole thing."

Malin was about to scold the white-haired girl when she noticed the black book in her arms. Yuniko had also noticed it.

"What do you have there?" the princess asked, her eyes locked on the black book.

Ryouko looked down and noticed the bible she had found. "Oh, it is only a bible I picked out right before Kyoko called. I took it with me in the rush."

"There should be no bibles in here," Malin said with a slight frown. "Bibles are only allowed to be owned by the church and the priests. It is not allowed for anyone, and I mean _anyone_ else, to own a bible."

Ryouko looked at the book as if it was about to explode right in her arms. Malin's words freighted her.

"Please, let me see it, Ryouko," the princess said and reached out to take the book.

Ryouko looked at the book and then at the princess. Slowly she handed the bible to her half sister. Yuniko let her hands run over the black leather cover. Immediately she noticed it was hard. Not soft like every other bible she had held before. Actually it was no book at all.

The princess glanced up at Malin who frowned in suspicion. "It is a box," the nurse stated whispering.

Kyoko, Ryouko and Joey leaned closer as Yuniko grabbed the cover in order to open the bible-shaped box. It easily clicked open and the princess slowly revealed the inside.

Whatever the girls and Joey had been expecting it was not what they found in the box. It was a crucifix, big as Yuniko's slender hand, made of pure silver with a midnight blue jewel was attached in each edge. At the top edge a thin chain turned the crucifix into a necklace. Yuniko immediately felt this cross was meant to be carried by her. In her heart she would more than happily place the chain around one of her friend's necks, but the cross called out to her and she knew she could not give it to anyone else.

"Why would such a thing be hidden in the castle's library?" Kyoko asked, as logical as always. "I mean… if no one but the church is allowed to own a bible, would not someone get suspicious to find one here?"

"Most books in here are used for studying," Malin told the younger two. "The library has grown ever since it was built and every king has given it their own gift of books, Yuniko's father as well. If the king himself placed a book on the shelves here, especially in a bookcase that is used rarely, it would not be noticed."

"When the council and their pupils are looking for books they can not see what they are not looking for," Yuniko filled in. "Have you never experienced that? That when you are looking for a certain object you pass things you may have been looking for before, but since it is not what you are interested in you pass it, never once noticing it was there."

The girls and Joey nodded in understanding.

Yuniko took out the crucifix and pulled the thin chain over her neck. It felt natural to have it there, resting on her chest. The metal was strangely warm under her touch and she felt how magic examined her body, heart and soul. It seemed to be satisfied and the magic tied a bond between the silver cross and the princess's heart. It really was meant to be hers.

"It suits your majesty," Ryouko said quietly, noticing how the dark blue jewels brought out the colour of the princess's bright eyes.

"Where father got this from I do not know," the princess said and caressed the cross's smooth surface lightly. "But it is meant for me. It is filled with magic that is now tied to my own."

Joey looked at the cross around his friend's neck and then flipped up the book to the drawing in the beginning. "The cross is right here," he said, showing the girls the drawing and pointed at the cross around the girl's neck.

"Is that woman… you, your majesty?" Kyoko asked and her blue eyes widened as she moved them from the drawing to the princess.

"No," the princess stated firmly. "But as the poem reveals I am not the first Battle Princess. Look here. It says 'The Battle Princess born again'. The woman on the drawing is the one who came before me."

"So the vampires have been defeated once before?" Joey asked wide-eyed. "Then why are they here now?"

"Because of me," the princess said lowly, anger and regret mixing in her eyes.

"It is _not_ because of you, Yuni!" Malin said in a demanding tone.

"The former Battle Princess sealed the evil away over five hundred years ago. When I was born the seal was broken and the vampire lord was set free. Since then he have been growing an army beyond the northern woods."

"Yuni? How can you be so sure? This morning you knew as much as us about this," Malin said, her voice low and her eyes wider than they had ever been. Fear and confusion could be seen in them.

Yuniko looked down at the cross resting at her chest. "The cross gives me knowledge," she said calmly.

The door to the library opened and Honda stepped in with an annoyed look on his usually calm and collected features. "Your majesty. The council wishes your presence in the meeting hall right away. Sir Ken has sent me to bring you there."

"As I said, Milady," Joey said with a snort at the thought of the councilman Ken. "Soon enough you will have a bunch of reasons to throw him out of Scotland."

"I long for that day," Honda muttered.

"Now, now. I can not accept my friends to talk bad about my councilmen, even if they may deserve it. I will come, Sir Honda. And you should not worry so much about me. It is not good for your health. If Lisa was still young she would bind you to your bed if she noticed you do not get enough sleep."

Honda bowed respectfully for his princess and smiled kindly at her. Honda had never admitted how much he had grown attached to the young princess. He sometimes felt like her uncle or older brother. No one in the council respected the princess as much as him.

"Joey, return to your duties," the princess ordered with firm but friendly voice as she hid the cross pendant inside her dress. "Ryouko and Kyoko, you could try and figure out the riddle of the poem."

"Yes, your majesty," her three friends said and bowed/curtsied for her. Malin followed Yuniko like her shadow, as she always did.

"Do not stay up too long," the princess called over her shoulder as she disappeared out of the door.


	19. Betrayed part 1

This update came a little late, but deal with it. To update last saturday would have been way too early.

Oh, about this chapter, what happens shocked even me. I certainly didn't saw it coming and almost had a heart-attack when I read it (I must read my stories since most of the time I'm only about 40 percent aware of what I write.)

I'm still a little usure of what has happened when. But I think I got it right in this chapter. The year is 1630 and the prinsess shall turn 18 when that time comes. I think Ryouko is turning 14 and Kyoko 13 this year. I'll do a research for Mokuba and find out when he was born and how old he is. Oh, and the prince has been dead for soon 2 years, since he died on Yinoko's 16th birthday.

Now that I think I have made that clear I will let you go and enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**Betrayed (part 1)**

Ryouko and Kyoko could not focus on anything else but the riddle of the poem for several days. When they didn't sleep they were settled in front of the fireplace in the library reading the poem over and over again even if they could replay it in their sleep by now. This far Ryouko had written an easier version of the poem and translated some of the riddles into understandable words.

The lord the poem talked about was clearly the vampire lord. Yuniko was the Battle Princess born to protect the world from the dark lord. The place where painful knots are tied is where the vampires' lives. But they were still stuck on the word they were supposed to find in between the lines.

"Opposite of grief and sorrow, save the light of tomorrow," Kyoko read out loud once again.

"The opposite is happiness and joy," Ryouko stated, though she had stated it about ten times a day.

"It does not make sense. Happiness is not resting inside the princess, that much I can tell."

"One heart still filled with light," Ryouko read from the book. "It must be the princess's heart it means."

"I wonder. The vampires are trying everything to blow her majesty's light out…"

Like that the sisters continued their arguments. Joey was with them a while each day, only to leave more confused than he was when he came.

The princess and Malin were kept busy. The council fussed like hens over the coronation and when Malin's patience was long gone, the princess was like an angel and took one thing at time. More than once Yuniko had to calm her nurse down when Malin snapped and yelled at anyone in sight to not talk to her if it wasn't of very great importance.

But however calm and collected the princess was during the days Malin noticed the change during the nights. It was soon six years since the princess made a habit of sitting in her window watching the sunrise each morning. Yuniko had dropped that habit now. She had no energy left once her long days ended, and she was chased by nightmares. Since the day they found the book and cross Malin had abandoned her own bed and slept in the princess's. That way she at least could offer some warmth and comfort during the nights.

The day before the coronation was worse than any other day Malin had lived through this far. Servants, slaves and councilmen were running around the castle to be sure everything was perfect for the day of Yuniko's coronation. The governors and lords of the kingdom had come to join the celebration and everyone was settled into rooms. A few of them had to chare because of lack of rooms when so many were going to spend a few nights in the castle. Most servants, except for the elderly ones even had to leave their rooms and beds and sleep in the small village in the courtyard. The young nurse kept her mouth wisely shut the entire day as she and the princess walked around, giving advice and answering questions, accepting greetings and congratulations from the guests.

But at the time when the evening fell Yuniko was visibly worn out. Her eyes where half closed and she hung her head. Malin was seriously worried about her friend. For even though the princess had looked like she was calm and collected on the outside the nurse could tell from small changes in her pose she was mentally worn out.

"Milady, you must go to sleep now," Malin said, not even trying to cover the worry in her voice.

The princess flashed her a weary smile. "I know. But I must go and see Unicorn once before I become queen," she said. Her usually powerful and melodic voice was hoarse and lacked the certainty she had been so careful to use the entire week. "It feels like ages since I saw her. I have not seen Sky recently either. I must see them now, for later there will be no time."

Malin nodded in understanding. It had been a long time since the princess could spend time with her protectors. And the princess always met her friends in loneliness. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate Malin's constant presence, but when she was with the animals she was better off alone.

"I will wait for you in your chambers, Milady," Malin said lowly.

"Thank you, Malin. I will come as soon as I am sure my friends are fine."

Malin nodded and turned around, heading back to the chamber she shared with the princess. But she stopped when she heard the princess's voice again.

"Never forget I love you, Malin," Yuniko said tenderly.

Malin turned and curtsied deeply. The princess smiled and walked out in the still chilly air at the beginning of springtime.

It was warm in the stables. The smell of horse and hay met her and she inhaled the familiar smell deeply. The stillness in the stable easily eased the stiffness of her body and her shoulders fell into a more relaxed manner.

Shadow raised his head and greeted her with a low neigh. He was old now, but he was still one of the best horses in the royal stable. He let the princess pat his muzzle and scratch that wonderful spot in his forehead. He couldn't stop himself from trying to move closer to the treasure, only to be stopped by the rope that tied him to his place.

"I love you too, Shadow," the princess whispered and rested her forehead on the dark horse's for a long moment.

Yuniko hadn't realized how much she needed this until now. When the stress eased her muscles hardly worked anymore. Most of all she wanted to lie down in the hay and sleep her time away. But it was an important day tomorrow and Malin was waiting for her.

In her box Unicorn neighed and scraped with her hoof to get attention. She had missed her mistress a lot.

"I am sorry I have not come earlier," Yuniko apologized and hugged Unicorn's head lovingly.

_Mistress tired,_ Unicorn said in the princess's mind. She was an animal, and as such her vocabulary was limited. She rarely used more than two words at the same time.

"I am very tired, my friend. But tomorrow I will no longer be a princess. I will be queen. But I guess it does not matter to you."

_Still mistress,_ Unicorn stated and nuzzled the princess's stomach to prove the fact.

"Yes, I will always be your mistress," Yuniko smiled and scratched her friend's forehead. Just like her father Unicorn loved to be scratched right there. "But may it be I will not be able to see you much more after today."

Unicorn gave the princess a look of hurt. _Mistress see me,_ she protested.

Yuniko smiled warmly. Unicorn was almost two years old now, and still she was like a child. Her love had either limits nor care for who it was directed at.

"Are you aware of how much I love you, Unicorn?" Yuniko asked and felt how the stone in her heart lifted as the warmth of being loved as something more than just her title filled it. Of cause Malin, Joey, Mokuba, Ryouko, Kyoko, and maybe even Honda loved her as Yuniko, and not only as the princess. But Unicorn's childlike love was different from theirs. Unicorn didn't ask for anything but love from Yuniko, and that she could give.

_Love mistress,_ Unicorn agreed and nuzzled against the princess as much as she could.

"I believe she loves you very much, your majesty," a familiar voice said from behind.

Yuniko turned around and looked at Kay who sat across the stable. He had left his room to someone else and now slept in the stable.

"Yes, she just told me," Yuniko near whispered.

Kay smiled slightly and walked over to the princess and Unicorn.

Shadow suddenly snorted loudly and threw with his big head. The princess reached out a hand for him and hushed quietly. She noticed how the horse glared at Kay.

"Shadow? You know Kay. He is a friend," Yuniko said softly.

_Not friend!_ Shadow neighed.

"He is getting old, my princess," Kay said, but didn't step closer to Shadow. "Lately he has not allowed me to come close to him or Unicorn. Though he hardly let anyone but her majesty close to Unicorn."

"Overprotective father," Yuniko smiled.

_Boy n__ot friend,_ Shadow neighed again. He tried to move forward and place himself between Kay and the princess, but yet again the rope stopped him.

Yuniko noticed how angry Shadow was becoming. If she didn't do something he would break free from the rope and go berserk in the stable. She couldn't let that happen.

"Hush, Shadow. Hush," she whispered and held up a lump of sugar.

Shadow stopped fighting against the rope, afraid he would hurt the princess now when she stood so close to him. He hesitatingly took the sugar from her and let her hold his head again. But he tried to keep an eye at the boy who took care of most horses here. He had heard how the male human boy had confessed his love for the young treasure for the mere in the box beside his. He had told her a lot more and Shadow was determined to not let any of those fantasies come true. But he suddenly felt so sleepy. The treasure's lovely voice and soft hands slowly lulled him to sleep.

Shadow felt how strong his connection with the princess was at the moment and gave her a wave of worry together with dark blue, purple and black colours to deepen the feeling. In return the princess sent different green shades, yellow and soft blue, comforting and calming colours. Soon Shadow's head hung low in his sleep.

"What did you do to him, your majesty?" Kay asked more curious than worried.

"I lulled him to sleep. Shadow really is overly protective. He was worried you would do something to harm me."

Kay frowned at the now sleeping horse suspiciously and confused, then gave the same look at the princess.

Yuniko smiled softly. "By listening to my voice Shadow and Unicorn are better than the other horses in here to understand the human language. But you will never harm me, now will you?"

Oh, those half-lidded eyes, shadowed with tiredness. "Of cause not," Kay assured. "Never."

Yuniko felt the familiar feeling of vampires inside the shield she had created around the kingdom. She was still worried about how advanced their magic was, but at the moment she was too tired to care. If they did not come too close to the castle there was nothing she could do about them anyway.

"You look tired, my princess. You can rest at the loft if you wish. It is warm up there."

Yuniko smiled and accepted. She was still confused about Shadow's sudden dislike of Kay, whom he had always accepted before. She knew Shadow had heard Kay say something, and she would try to pry out of him.

A small lantern cast a soft light on the loft. Yuniko lay on her back in the hay close to it, and Kay lay down on her other side.

"So your majesty will be crowned tomorrow," Kay started softly.

Yuniko sighed deeply. "Yes."

"You will have to marry soon as well."

Slightly surprised and confused by Kay's curiosity Yuniko giggled shortly. "I suppose I will. Why?"

Kay didn't answer right away. He faced away from Yuniko for some time before he turned to his side, his head resting on his popped up palm so that he leaned slightly over the princess. "Do you have someone special in mind?"

Yuniko could make out a wish in her friend's eyes. She knew he had been in love with her in younger years, and now she realized he had never let go of that love. But she would have to make him disappointed. She was a princess, he was a stableman. He knew as well as her a relationship between them would never be tolerated.

"Yes," she answered his question with a soft smile. "Joey has asked me to marry him. And I said I will."

A sparkle of jealousy darkened Kay's already dark eyes. "But… he is a simple guard. The son of a robber. A low-class soldier… Why him?"

"Joey is not a robber's son," Yuniko said with soft sternness. "It does not matter what crimes his father committed, Joey is still the son of a high-ranked lord. He chose to be a solider himself because I gave him the possibility. He has proved to everyone he is trustworthy and loyal to me. The council knows it as well. Joey and I are going to be married as soon as the council brings up the subject of marriage."

Kay looked sharply taken aback, but then anger flashed through his usually kind eyes.

Yuniko was never given the time to prevent what happened next. Kay's face swiftly fell down and smashed his lips on top of hers. Kay was heavier than the princess and quickly pinned her down and lay on top of her.

"Why did you never give me a chance?" Kay whispered, his lips still on top of Yuniko's. Her lips were turning red from the rough kiss.

"Kay?"

"I have loved you ever since we were little, but you never looked my way in anything but simple friendship." Kay cut himself off with another harsh kiss. He tried to taste her, but she refused him entrance to her mouth. "I know I am only a stableman, but I am way more loyal towards you than any other man in your kingdom."

"No," the princess whimpered as she forcefully turned her face away from him. Kay's grip on her wrists was painful and his body was heavy on top of hers. "By doing this you prove you are not…" Yuniko gasped sharply when Kay started to suck hard on her neck. She cast her head at his painfully hard for both of them. But Kay just locked both her arms over her head with one hand and used the other to hold her head so that he could continue what he had started.

"Kay, please stop it. Do not make me fear you."

"You already do, Yuni," Kay's cold voice whispered in her ear. "I can feel you shiver under me. I can feel how hard your heart beats against mine. You can hate me for all I care, but right now no one will come and disturb us. I will have your innocence tonight. Then you can run to your beloved Joey or have me killed. But by then your innocence is long gone, and with it the love you receive from the animals."

Yuniko's eyes opened wide from shock and betrayal. "Who… are you?" she whispered with tears in her eyes for the first time in two years. "You are not the Kay I love. You are not the friend I played with as a child."

Kay's eyes once again flashed with anger and the hand that held the princess's face moved to her throat. "Stop trying to fool me," he hissed angrily. "You never loved me. You always say you love the people around you, but you do not. You only say it so they will fall to your feet and prise you."

Yuniko couldn't breath. She opened her mouth in vain attempt to get air through her blocked throat, and Kay saw his chance. He leant down and kissed her again, this time with nothing stopping him from tasting the inner regions of her mouth. He released her hands, which immediately tried to force his hand away from her throat. But Kay didn't mind her actions. His free hand travelled down her body and roughly grabbed her breast.

Yuniko screamed, or at least tried to, into Kay's mouth. Kay stopped kissing her from lack of air. The hand that squeezed her throat moved down her body.

"Stop it, Kay. I beg you," Yuniko gasped.

But the stableman had everything he had ever wanted right under him. He would not let this opportunity slip through his fingers. As Yuniko grew older the more beautiful she got, and the pain of knowledge in his heart that he was only a mare stableman cut deeper every time the princess smiled at him. For many nights during the years his dreams was filled with nothing but the princess in just this position. But in his dreams Yuniko welcomed him into her arms and begged him to take her, to let her marry him, to start a family with him. That was the way he wanted it to be. But it was impossible for anything like that to ever happen between him and Scotland's most powerful woman. And the sharp dragger cut deeper into his heart. And now he hears the princess has accepted Joey, a man he thought was just a low and simple son of a robber, to marry her. It cut his heart in two. Jealousy finally got the better of him.

"Yes, beg for me," he whispered as he sucked painfully hard on her neck. His hands started to pull up her dress. "For I will have you tonight. No matter what."

Yuniko fidgeted and tried to eel out of Kay's hard grip, but his hands got under her dress's skirt and grabbed her tights.

"Do not do this, Kay!" she whimpered. "What drives you to this? You have always known the difference between us. You have always known I have a duty towards Scotland."

She gasped again when Kay suddenly bit her over her throat, stopping her breathing once again. She tried to get him off of her by clawing at his face and try to kick with her legs. But everything was in vain. The world started to blur as she slowly lost consciousness. She felt with fear how his hands worked with her underwear. Kay grinded against her and she could feel his hard manhood through his pants.

'No!' her mind screamed. 'No! Joey! Malin! _Father!_ **BROTHER**!'

Kay was suddenly lifted off her roughly by a shadow. On its own the princess's hand reached out and snapped away the pearl that hung around Kay's neck. Yuniko gasped for air and looked at Kay who tried to fight the shadow, but she had no chance of making out whom or what the shadow was.

Cold but comforting arms embraced her and she was carefully pulled against a familiar chest. She looked up into Aku's compassionate eyes, and fainted.

Kay didn't know what happened. One second he was about to force himself on the girl who had invaded his dreams for so long, but the next he was ripped off of her by stone cold arms.

"So you are trying to rape my sister in a moment of weakness?"

"Prince Atemu?" Kay gasped, before trying to pry the dead prince off of him, but the cold grip only tightened.

"No one hurts my little sister. No one takes away her innocence. Not as long as I am allowed to stay among the living."

Kay saw how another man, this one black clad with moonlight coloured hair and narrow, blue eyes, pulled the princess close to his chest. He saw how lovingly he held her and jealousy immediately fuelled his system. But it was to no use. Sharp teeth pierced the skin on his neck and started to suck his blood out of his very veins. Too late he realized that both the one holding him and the one who carefully straightened out the princess's dress were vampires.

Kay wanted to scream. He wanted the princess to save him, like she had done to everyone else inside the great wall. She had given him a pearl that she said was the best protection against the evil he could ever get. Why wasn't that pearl protecting him now? Why didn't the princess fight back the vampire holding her so lovingly? Why did she look so relaxed in his embrace?

Kay slowly died with his unanswered questions. Atemu sucked him dry more out of pure anger than actual hunger.

"How is she?" the former prince asked once Kay was emptied of every single drop of blood his body possessed.

"Worn out, shocked and unconscious," Aku answered. "Otherwise fine."

Atemu went up to his friend and sister to examine her for any possible injuries. Her lips were swollen from the rough kisses, her neck was bruised from the sucking and red where his hand had grabbed her throat and almost choked her. Where Kay had bitten down the skin was just barely keeping her blood from flowing out.

"His soul deserves to be thrown into the deepest dens of hell," Aku whispered with hatred, something that was anything but rare in his voice.

"She called for me to save her," Atemu whispered, almost inaudible. He touched the golden pendant that rested in the small hole between her collarbones. "I gave her this the same day you took me away. I heard her call out to me through it."

"You are her brother, Atemu," Aku smiled and held the princess closer to his chest, wishing his body was warm so he could offer her his body heat. "She will never stop loving you."

Sad but grateful blue eyes met his. "I know," Atemu whispered. "We have to take her back to her room. Malin will be worried sick if she stays here much longer, as late as it is."

"That girl will never let us in," Aku said, his voice dark from distrust and bitter knowing.

"She may let me in," Atemu comforted. "If she sees my face she may let me in. I have not changed enough for her to not recognize me."

Aku looked down at the unconscious princess in his arms. "Will you let me kiss her first?" he asked hopefully.

Atemu smiled amused before he nodded. He looked out over the boxes of horses below. Some of them had awoken from the princess's muffled cries, but Aku's magical sleep powder caused them to fall asleep again. He just hoped all of them were still alive. Yuniko would never forgive him if he had let Unicorn or Shadow or any of the horses die.

Out of the corner of his eye Atemu watched Aku tenderly kiss the princess's swollen lips. He knew Aku would never hurt his sister on purpose. The love the other held for the young princess had grown all too deep.

"Here you have your precious sister," Aku said with a slight smile. "I trust you to protect her as if you were me."

Atemu gave a lopsided grin before he took his sister bridal style and jumped down to the hard earth floor, landing lightly on his feet.

"I will watch your back, Atemu," Aku whispered as he followed his friend outside. "If Crow would appear."

Atemu just nodded and let out his wings. He hoped he would be able to talk to Malin. He knew how much the girl valued trust and honour. Others' as much as her own.

With Aku's help Atemu took flight into the air. As immortal his body was unaffected by his surroundings and the darkness and moonlight made him weightless when he wanted to, but with his sister's extra weight he had a hard time making it into the air.

The night was silent, as always when they hunted. Atemu had already fed, but Aku needed blood too this night. Luckily the night was still young. Maybe they could ask Malin to take someone.

* * *

Malin was just becoming nervous where she sat, dressed in white nightdress made of cotton, on the princess's wide bed. She hoped the princess hadn't fallen asleep in the stable. Yuniko seemed all too tired to care about the vampires. What if they took her away when she was sleeping? 

A soft knock on the window caused the young nurse to jump. At first she could just see a shadow through the glass and was about to scream for help, but then she noticed the princess's pale face in the vampire's arms.

Swallowing her scream Malin rushed over to the window and opened it. She reached for her friend, but the vampire lifted her out of Malin's reach.

"Malin, it is me."

The dark skinned nurse looked up at the distantly familiar voice, just to have the shock of her life. "Your… your majesty?"

Atemu smiled kindly at her, but his smile had changed. Before, it was always warm and welcoming, now Malin wanted to run away from him. Those sharp fangs in his mouth were very obvious, and even more dangerous as there was a tingle of blood on them. She looked at Yuniko again as the supposed dead prince silently made his way inside, just to forcefully swallow another scream at the sight of the ruler's bruised throat.

"Your majesty? What have you done? How could you…?"

"I was not the one who hurt her," Atemu said, his soft voice slightly cooler. "Stableman Watson's son was the one."

"Kay? Are you trying to fool me? Kay would never try to…"

"Force himself on the princess?" another voice said as Atemu gently placed the princess on her bed.

Malin turned to see another vampire in the window. This one had moonlight coloured hair, glowing blue eyes and ghostly white skin. Dressed completely in black he was the perfect picture of a vampire sprung from her nightmares. The only thing with him that was not a part of her nightmares was that he was awfully handsome. Just like Atemu.

"Stableman Kay has always loved my sister, has he not?" Atemu asked, never turning his attention away from his younger sister. He carefully covered her with the blanket and softly, like the touch of the wind, moved strays of golden hair out of her eyes.

"Y-yes," Malin confessed quietly.

"Not every man is capable of keeping his heart pure and at place. When jealousy hit in nothing can stop it from doing what one most desire."

Malin looked back at the princess, still being carefully looked over by Atemu. The former prince's care for his little sister still shone through his entire being. She couldn't stop the tiny smile that tugged the corners of her mouth upwards. The bond between brother and sister was not completely broken yet.

Malin felt a soft gust of air hit her face and turned her head, only to almost yelp, hadn't the moonlight-haired one covered her mouth in a warning gesture.

"This is the first time I see you awake," the vampire said, his blue eyes glowing even brighter.

Malin's hands sought the pearl around her neck, surprised it hadn't reacted yet.

"The princess's blood will do no harm to me as long as my interests are not to harm you," the vampire said calmly, noticing the nurse's searching hands.

"Wh-what do you know about that?"

"We must leave soon," Atemu's soft voice was heard from the window. "Aku still have to feed, and the night will not last forever."

The moonlight-haired vampire started towards the window, knowing what Atemu meant, but he heard a change in the princess's heart rate, and couldn't ignore it. The princess was waking up, and he could not let her, not yet. She needed to rest.

Looking over at Atemu Aku knew the former prince thought about the same thing. The princess's brother nodded at him.

"Malin, please stay quiet now."

Malin hardly had time to register Atemu's words before Aku was at the princess's bed, hovering over her like a hawk over its prey. She was about to scream at him to leave her alone, when she felt a cold hand clasp over her mouth and Atemu's blue eyes hypnotised her.

Aku breathed on the princess's face, the air from his dead lungs was not as strong as his usual, magical sleep powder. But if he used the powder Yuniko would die.

Hearing the princess's heart calm down into a steadier rate Aku relaxed, but the look of the sleeping princess was far too tempting. He couldn't stop himself from leaning closer to her and once again kiss those warm, soft lips. He wished she had answered his confession, wished she had told him she loved him too. But he knew she didn't. He was a vampire, her greatest enemy, the source of fear in the people. She would never allow his love, never lower herself to even consider putting enough faith in him to fall asleep in his arms. She did tonight only out of exhaustion. Nothing more. The only thing she may feel for him was slight respect. And why she let him kiss her was only for the comfort.

"Let us leave, Aku," Atemu's said, breaking through Aku's depression.

"As you wish, my friend."

Turning around Aku noticed the nurse sleeping in the other bed. So Atemu had mastered the sleep spell? Impressive.

The vampires left the castle to hunt outside the lines of Scotland, partly because the princess's barrier still was trying to remove them from the land, and partly because of the princess. After all, they loved Yuniko just as much, only in different ways.

* * *

Yuniko awoke with a start as someone knocked carefully on the door. Her memories of last night were blurry, and most of all she wished to forget them. Kay had actually tried to take away her innocence. He had admitted it himself. 

But there was something in her memories that were just out of her reach. Something about a shadow… and glowing blue eyes.

The knocking on the door was heard again and Yuniko's almost grasped memory slipped between her fingers.

Looking down at herself the princess noticed she was still wearing the same cloths as the day before. She hoped whoever wished entrance to her room wouldn't catch up her slightly disorganized and uncharacteristic appearance too much.

"Milady…" Mokuba lost whatever he was about to say to stare at his pretended big sister with wide eyes. In his eyes she looked tired, worn out and almost broken. Her eyes were almost void of the usual bright light that used to shine in them as long as the errand boy had known her and her hair needed to be washed. She still smelled of horse, hay and sweat.

"Please come in, Mokuba," the princess said kindly and a kind smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"What have happened to you, Milady?" Mokuba whispered. The princess could easily read his worry.

"I am not sure. I only remember walking to the stable to see Unicorn. I met Kay and…" Yuniko frowned slightly in concentration. What had happened? She couldn't tell Mokuba Kay had almost taken her. No one would ever know about it. "I do not remember coming back."

"Milady has worked far too much lately," Mokuba stated. "You should rest more."

Yuniko smiled as she sat down in a chair. "I know, my little brother. But today is the day of my coronation. I can not back down from the throne, especially not now when Scotland is in the deepest need of me."

Mokuba fidgeted uncomfortably. He had had nightmares the whole night about the princess getting ripped away from him forever. And the princess's appearance didn't help any.

Yuniko let out a deep sigh, but it caught in her throat as she became aware of something smooth in her hand. She looked at her fisted hand.

"Are you all right, Lady Yuniko?" Mokuba asked, having noticed her sudden stiff posture.

Yuniko glanced up at her little friend before looking back at her hand. Mokuba walked up to her and watched as the princess opened her firmly closed fist to reveal…

"Kay's pearl…" Yuniko whispered.

"But… that means he is no longer under Milady's protection," Mokuba whispered with wide eyes.

The princess's hand trembled, and the pearl fell to the floor from between her slender fingers. She had let Kay die. Aku must have come and killed him. Those blue eyes she remembered so faintly became clear… but if those eyes were Aku's… who was the shadow that caught Kay? Yuniko guessed Aku hadn't been alone last night.

Grief, failed responsibility and guilt finally hit the princess full force. With a deep, hopeless sigh Yuniko fell back in her chair and half lay in it, something she had never in her life done before. She wished she could cry. Then the stone in her heart would not be such a heavy burden to carry. She wished she could laugh again. Wished she could laugh at herself. Laugh until she cried. Laugh until everything was gone. She wished she could be angry and throw a fit… but she couldn't do any it. Of everything she wished she could do, there was only one single thing she could do; fight back.

"Lady Yuniko?" Mokuba said hesitatingly. Tears were burning in his eyes. He was afraid. Afraid of what had happened, of the princess appearance, of the vampires, and of the fact that Yuniko; the purest heart on earth, would lift her protection from anyone.

"I am so sorry," Yuniko whispered to all and nothing. "I am so sorry for everything."

Mokuba decided to be a real little brother for once. He walked up to his pretended sister and princess and crawled onto her lap. The princess looked honestly confused at his actions, but didn't shoo him away. The sixteen year old errand boy hid his face in Yuniko's neck and sighed, letting his breath tickle the princess's sensitive skin.

Yuniko felt she should do something, but wasn't sure of what. No one had ever sat on her lap before, and she herself had never done so to either of her parents. She could clearly sense the younger boy's need of comfort though and carefully hugged her little friend close to her body.

Mokuba closed his little hand around the material of the princess's dress, unwilling to let go. He didn't keep his tears back anymore, and they wet his pretended sister's dress.

Yuniko felt how Mokuba cried, out of uncertainty, confusion and fright. But as Mokuba's tears flooded down the small boy's cheeks, she could feel the stone in her heart ease a little. It had happened once before; when Malin had cried her heart out on her. It was like Mokuba too cried for her as well. Slowly it filled her heart with new hope and a real smile grazed her face once again. She hugged the smaller boy even closer to her warm body, feeling like a mother and sister at the same time.

"Yuniko…"

"Hm?"

"…Did something happen… between you and Kay?"

Yuniko tightened her grip slightly. "Kay betrayed me," she whispered truthfully. "I can not protect someone who I can not trust."

Mokuba pulled away from the princess's chest to look at her with teary eyes. "I will _never_ _ever_ betray you, Lady Yuniko," he stated with determination in his wide, grey eyes. "I will protect you until the day I die, and after that I will watch you from Heaven."

"So will I," Malin's soft voice stated as the nurse made her way over to the chair.

"Good morning, my beautiful friend," Yuniko greeted with a forced smile. "We have a lot to do today. So Mokuba. Could you please go and tell Marie I need a bath?"

Marie was Lisa's best student ever. A young, grey-eyed girl with strawberry blond hair and heart-shaped face. But she was very stern and strict.

Mokuba dried his tears and smiled, happy to see his sister smile again. She looked much healthier when smiling. "Only if Milady will wear flowers in your hair today," he said with a mischievous smile.

"We have a deal," the princess nodded.

* * *

It looked like the entire people of Scotland had come to see the new ruler of their land this evening. The simple people were crowded outside the great walls, the richer lords and noblemen inside. Everyone as eager to see the woman behind many rumours with their very own eyes. 

The high priest, a very strict old man, stood on the highest top of the great wall waiting for the princess. He was dressed completely in white and was carefully shaved. The only hair visible on him was his thick eyebrows. But the high priest was, just like Ken, unsure about the princess's capability to rule Scotland on her own. She was strong, yes, that was undeniable, but she was a _woman_. A lonely woman on the throne was nothing the high priest had any high thoughts about.

The gate to the castle opened completely to reveal the procession of councilmen, priests, a few servants and the princess-soon-queen. Her mere appearance demanded respect from everyone who was looking at her and her beauty hurt many eyes.

Just like the high priest Yuniko was dressed completely in white. The elegant dress had taken many servants night and day of the five days from the princess's announcing about the coronation. The material was of white silk with much embroidery of even whiter silk, mostly flowers, the symbol of purity and innocence. The dress had long, wide sleeves and an even longer train that Malin and a very stiff Ryouko lifted up so it wouldn't get dirty. Yuniko looked more like a queen and ruler than her mother, grandmother and any of the former queens ever had. The only thing the high priest frowned at where her bare shoulders.

There had actually been fights about this part of the dress. Some servants wanted to follow the English fashion and make a turtle neck on the dress, but others meant that the princess looked strange in high necks since she was often or always seen with bare shoulders or a low neck-line. The princess herself had had to step up and design the neck herself. So now the dress just barely covered her shoulders.

And, just like she had promised Mokuba, the princess's hair was tied with white lilies in the blue of her hair to not be in the way.

The procession of priests and councilmen stopped at the base of the steps where the princess walked up alone. Malin and Ryouko stood as guards on each side of the steps to pick up the train of the princess's dress when she came down again. The place for the coronation had been carefully cleaned from everything, so the dress should be fine.

In a slow but steady pace Yuniko walked up to the high priest. He bowed for her and she nodded graciously in return. A red mat, very old but clean and cared for, was lying before the high priest's feet and Yuniko kneeled on it and put her hands together. From below she locked like a saint. Over her head the high priest read a holy text from the bible, but since it was in Latin not everyone understood what he said.

After the holy text, meant to bless and warn the new queen of Scotland, the high priest returned to his native tongue with long speech about Scotland's history, about great kings who had made Scotland what it was until now. Yuniko started to feel how her knees protested about being rested on for so long, but the princess showed no sign of discomfort.

Finally the last partcame , where the queen's crown would be set upon Yuniko's head.

"With God's blessing, the golden crown will rest upon your head for the rest of your life!"

The thin crown was finally glittering from around Yuniko's head as she stood up to greet her people as queen.

"My people!" the princess called out clearly over the sea of heads below her. "This is a wonderful day to start a new era. Just like you have a duty to me, I have a duty to you. In return of your trust I will protect you and this kingdom until Heaven decides my time on earth is coming to an end. I know you all live in worry about rumours that have been speared through the latest years, and I will start my time as a ruler to confess something to you all. From north, beyond my kingdom, a dangerous threat is rising. This threat is knows as Evil, Vampires, beings of the darkness of night. Those creatures are undead, dead, but still alive. But as long as I sit on the throne I can secure you I will keep those monsters far away from here, and from Scotland. Tonight, and for many days ahead, this darkness will not harm anyone under my protection. And you are all under my protection. Let the sun now set for a lost era, and let it rise again over a new day with new light!"

"**LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"** the crowds yelled three times from below.

The queen smiled like the sun that set in west. On the three hills in south, west and east, huge flames from traditional bonfires reached for the heaven above and lighted up the villages around. Tonight no one was afraid. The new queen had promised them all security.


	20. Betrayed part 2

Hey guys, sorry this chappie is out one day late, but I had no time yesterday and then I was lucky to be able to borrow my old man's com to update this. If he hadn't I wouldn't have been able to update at all this month.

From all of me to all of you a very Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year (sorry this chapter isn't as happy as the x-mas times)

* * *

**Betrayed (part 2)**

"Good, very good. But Governor Axel will not be satisfied," Honda said as he noted the queen's order.

"It does not matter what I do about his district, he will never be completely satisfied," the queen said calmly. "But now at least he will be more satisfied than before."

"True, my queen," Honda nodded with a smile he hoped no one noticed.

Someone suddenly knocked eagerly on the door. The queen nodded at Malin, but the ones outside did not have patience enough to wait for the door to open from inside.

"Your majesty, we think we have solved the riddle!" Kyoko said with her eyes wide with happiness and pride. Ryouko came after her with the book in her arms, smiling broadly.

Though most councilmen glared at the girls for having interrupted the meeting, the queen gave them both a bright smile. "Then you are more than welcome inside. With this we can also move the subject to the greatest threat we will soon be facing."

Ken cleared his throat. "Forgive me my ignorance once again, your majesty. But those girls…"

"Have been working for days with a riddle that may solve our problem with the vampires for good," Yuniko ended his sentence with finality. "For while you have been worried about the heir to the throne, the girls have been working on the real problem of the kingdom; the war we have ahead."

Ken, and many other advisors, was stunned. More than stunned. None of them had ever been told off by anyone before. It was only Honda who had to fight himself to not let it show he was breaking a rib from holding back his laugher. Had any other woman ever tried to talk back to the royal council, she would have been killed on the spot. But Yuniko was the _queen_ now, and she actually had the _right_ to tell her council off when they in her eyes acted wrong.

"Now girls, tell me what you have found out," the queen continued with much softer voice to her half sisters.

"Well," Kyoko began and flipped up the book to the first four lines to read it. It was definitely not needed, but she needed something to look at, whatever but those high-ranked, staring men. "The first lines say 'In times of fear and pain, they will break the binding chain.' We believe that the time of fear is when the vampires are more than now, but we are still not sure about the chain."

"The next two lines say 'The Battle Princess born again, to protect the world of men.' That line is easy. Your majesty is the Battle Princess, and you are born only to protect the world from the evil of the vampire lord."

"Vampire lord?" Honda asked and rose slightly from his chair.

"Battle Princess?" someone else asked.

"It is what the vampires call me," the queen explained. "And I have talked to a few of the creatures," Yuniko said calmly, her eyes very serious. She was prepared for any reaction from her council. "They were once humans like you and me, but as always there have to be someone to begin a race. That is the lord. He is also the one who have sent all those attacks at me, he is the one who wishes to see me dead most of all."

Honda sat down slowly, but his face was three shades paler than before.

"Go on, my girls," the queen said gently.

Kyoko had an embarrassed blush covering her cheeks as she turned a page, but it soon disappeared as she returned to her theory. "After that there are those two lines that we still are a little unsure about. It says 'What is gained is what is lost, win the battle at all cost.' We think it means that if your majesty recruits more soldiers they will probably die. But the text also says that it is necessary for the victory."

"'Stripped of what is beautiful, the lord will still be vengeful'." Ryouko read over her sister's shoulder. "We are not completely agreed about this one. I believe it is the lord who is somewhat beautiful and that Milady will take it away from him. But Kyoko says that it is your majesty who will be stripped from beauty, and that even so the lord will not be satisfied."

Yuniko nodded slowly. "You can both be right. The vampires I have actually seen have looked like ordinary humans, except for their fangs and eyes. The lord may have been human once as well. But as they are sinners like no other the beauty they possessed while alive can sooner or later be lost. And covered with the blood of the vampires I will be stripped from my beauty as well." She mumbled the last sentence and for a short second her eyes lost focus. "What are the next lines?"

Kyoko read from the book again. "'In a place where belief is not, bonds are tied in this painful knot.' The place it talks about is obviously where the vampires rest during the time the sun is up. Among the people that have been taken away there is the prince, the king, a priest and a friend of the prince and maybe even the former queen. If there are those with still somewhat pure hearts they will group up and all of them will try to fight the lord."

"But the kind of bond they bind with each other can indeed be painful," Ryouko ended.

"Once again I think you are both right and wrong," the queen said, looking slightly troubled. "The vampires are driven by desire and hunger. I am still not sure what kind of desire. Is it the wish they died with, or something they were never able to do during their time of living?"

"How can you know so much about those monsters, my queen?"

Yuniko's eyes locked with Ken's angry ones. "I am the protector of Scotland, my dear Ken," she said clearly as she stood. "I can not allow myself to hide behind lines of soldiers that will lose their lives when not being able to defend me. Instead I rush ahead and meet the enemies of my kingdom straightforward. I have been able to study the monsters slightly during the years since my brother died, and found out things I have kept from you, my council, because I was afraid of your health. Not all of you have strong hearts. We are all nothing but humans after all, and we live under the unwritten laws of men. The only thing I wanted was to be sure that no unimportant information was leaked out before I was sure what kind of information it was."

"You are very predicting, Milady," Honda said and bowed his head in respect.

"I thank you for your prise, my friend. But please spear your prise until there is actual use for them. And before Scotland is safe there will be no use for prise."

Honda nodded, this time slightly in shame. The queen's words had not been hard or scolding, but they hit where they was meant to.

Yuniko nodded at the girls once again as she sat down.

"The next lines we are not really agreed with either," Ryouko said as she took the book from her sister. "It says; 'Trust is what is torn, and love is all too worn.' If you ask me, I think that your majesty's trust will be tested and that your love will not be enough to win this war."

"But if you ask me I say it is about the vampires again, and that it is the trust between the friends of the vampires it talks about, and that it is the love they hold towards Milady that will be worn out."

"Love?" another, older councilman suddenly hissed and stood, his eyes burning with hatred towards the creatures of darkness. "Those monsters are not able to feel love, my queen. We have all seen what they have done. No, they are not able to feel love."

"Have you not listened, my friend?" the queen asked gently. "They are driven by desire. It may be only lust, but it can also be a longing for love; that they are looking for someone who can love them though what they are. I confess not even I may be able to love any of them after what they have done. But there is one of the vampires I believe seriously loves me. Then there is one I know only lusts for me."

"My queen! This is madness! You are the only one left who can protect your kingdom from the pure evil of the north. Why are you putting yourself in such danger?"

Yuniko smiled, glad that at least one of those old men understood what she had done without having her to tell them straight out. "To protect my kingdom," she answered calmly and with a warm smile.

Before anyone had had the time to ask something again the queen nodded to the girls to continue.

Kyoko took the book back. "The fourth page of text starts like this: 'Sorrow and grief in the darkest night, one heart still filled with light.'. I know the heart of light is Milady's. Since you are the Battle Princess, the heart of light is yours."

"But about the darkest night, we believe it is related to the drawing in the beginning," Ryouko said and showed the queen the drawing once again.

"May we see that?" Honda asked as he leant forward to see better.

Yuniko nodded and Kyoko walked from one to another, showing them the drawing shortly.

"That woman remains me of you, your majesty," someone said when Kyoko had passed him.

"According to what we have found it is the former Battle Princess who put the vampire lord under a seal about 500 years ago," Malin said calmly. "The 'Sorrow and grief in the darkest night' is about the night the former Battle Princess put the vampire lord under the seal?" she then asked turned to the sisters.

"Yes, that is what we think," Ryouko said. "Or worse, it can be the last battle between us and the vampires."

"And what says the drawing is not false?" Ken asked smoothly. "The prince was a master of drawing I have heard. It may as well be he who has drawn it."

Malin swallowed hard to not let a poisonous remark leave her lips.

"My brother did never see me like a soldier or any kind of heroine. And had it been false I would have noticed," the queen said with closed eyes. "But if you doubt me you can take a look at this."

The queen took out the cross pendant she still had around her neck. She had not been able to take it off, partly because the crucifix didn't want to leave its place close to her heart.

"Everyone here has a crucifix, my queen."

"Milady's crucifix was found in the library only a few days ago," Malin said harshly. "And it is on the drawing as well."

"And it is filled with magic that is bound to my heart," the queen's soft voice interrupted as she looked at the cross with unfocused eyes. "It belonged to the Battle Princess before me, and her power together with mine rests in my heart. It protects me better than an army of men."

In a moment of jealousy and anger that the queen would be protected by such a thing when she wasn't afraid to die, Ken reached out a hand and tried to snap the crucifix away from the ruler. But before he could touch it the jewels started to glow angrily and Ken flew back as the flashes of pure blue magic hit him in his chest.

"Apparently you are too eager to have my power, Ken," the queen said as she stood, the cross still glowing angrily. The others in the room backed away from her and Ken, who half lay on the floor with his shoulders lifted up by the wall.

"All too eager to let me finish a warning. This crucifix is meant for me. If it could protect just anyone I would not have it around my neck. But if someone else but me tries to wear this cross, the magic will tear the person apart from inside out. The magic has already accepted me to carry it. I _can_ not take it off."

Ken was panting hard. Ashes and burns were visible on his face. He was in deep pain.

With a graceful motion of her hand the queen took away her councilman's pain, not able to look at it for too long, but the burns was still there.

"Had my father still been alive you would have died here on the spot," Yuniko said somewhat sadly. "But I am not able to kill what is alive. Neither can I let your crime slip. The burns you have you will never be able to hide. They will forever be there and tell the people around you what you have tried to do."

"My queen, you are all too nice," an old man said, getting agreeing nods and murmurs in response. "The man must leave. Have he tried to hurt you majesty once, he is capable of hurting you again!"

"Do you actually believe his crime to be so serious it has to be punished so roughly?" the queen asked, looking at her council over her shoulder. There were pain in her eyes, and sorrow. No one could answer. "Death is a hard punishment only if the criminal is very young. But for someone older the worst punishment ever is to have to leave what one has fought hard to build. No, I can not find this crime serious enough to deliver such a punishment. But Ken. You have only one chance left. If you displease me like this again I will have to banish you."

Ken closed his eyes and nodded. The queen was kind to him, and he knew it. So why did he feel so insulted?"

"Let us return to what we were doing," the queen ordered as she sat back down. "I believe all of you need to hear the rest of the poem before Ken can return to his chambers and rest."

Everyone nodded in agreement. What had been revealed this far was important facts, could no one deny that.

"Will you read the rest for us, little Ryouko?"

"Yes, the rest is aiming at the same thing," the white-haired girl said and took the book from Kyoko. "It is searching for a word."

"_The word I seek is now and then_

_Shining through the darkest den_

_---_

_Give me once again this feeling_

_The lord for it is kneeling_

_The opposite of grief and sorrow_

_Save the light of tomorrow_

_---_

_Only clues can I give you on the way_

_Before you in the battle pass away"_

Kyoko took over where her sister stopped, but this time she didn't take the book. Both girls knew it from inside out by now.

"_This light will never leave your chest_

_If so you give in for eternal rest_

_---_

_What is it the dark lord wishes to hide?_

_Your love, your home, your pride?_

_The star in her heart is hiding_

_And the darkness itself is blinding_

_---_

_With only this I leave you here_

_To find the rest on your own, my dear_

_The star in her is the word I seek_

_In its light even darkness will retreat"_

It was quiet after the words' echo had died out. A light of realization lit up in Yuniko's eyes first, and suddenly also in Malin's.

"Hope," the nurse whispered quietly.

"Yes, that is the feeling that shines through even the darkest of nights," the queen said quietly.

"The star of hope is resting inside of you, your majesty," Joey, who had been standing in a corner all along, said and nodded to his own statement.

"Milady is the hope of Scotland," Ryouko said.

* * *

"So, you believe that your brother is the princess the four Dreamers was working about before they fell into their present state?" 

"Yes," Bakura nodded. "It may be possible that Yugi is dreaming about his life as a princess."

Bakura, Yami, Jono, Honda and Anzu were sitting with Lou in the doc's office. The teens had just explained about their suspicions, and the doctor was halfway ready to agree with them.

"Not impossible," Dr Lou said as he stroke his chin in thought. "But then the other three are dreaming they are the ones they were during the time the princess was alive. I heard the young Ishtar when he opened his eyes, the time his mother and sister was here together. It was shortly after young Mr Kaiba and you, Bakura, returned home. He called young Atemu 'princess'."

"Then we must be on the right track," Anzu said determined. "If we can find a time when their state of dreaming is weak we can make them believe this is their dream and take them back to reality, can't we?"

Honda and Jono rolled their eyes. Even they realized the stupidity of that.

"I am quite certain that is not possible," Honda said.

"Your friend is right, young girl," the doc said. "Just like you can't lure a person out of a state of coma I believe you can not lure a dreamer into reality. The only thing we can do is wait them out. Wait for them to live through what is important and then hope they will return to this life."

"But is it possible for them to ever return?" Jono asked carefully, trying really hard to not hurt the brothers of Yugi and Ryou. "I mean, you said yourself that if they die in their dreams they will die for real as well. But if they dream about their lives from the moment they were born until the time they die…"

"I have a hard time believing it is like that," Lou said slowly. Quiet breaths of relief were heard from Bakura and Yami. "The only thing I believe you are able to do right now is to find out the story about the princess for yourselves. That way you may find out what happened to all of them."

"That should not be too hard," Bakura said thoughtfully. "There are lots of books and stuff at my place that I know they haven't looked through yet. And we always have Ryouko's diary."

"I won't return to school until this mystery is solved," Yami mumbled mostly to himself as he turned to leave. "Thank you, Lou. We'll see you soon again."

"Of cause," the doctor said and the teens left his office. "Of cause you will, prince of Scotland, and father of a whore's daughter."

The doctor took out a golden pendant from around his neck. He opened it and looked at the small, hand painted pictures. "Are you prepared to realize the truth?" he asked the face of the prince Atemu. "Are you prepared to see into my daughter's eyes?"

* * *

Joey watched the councilman Ken walk back and forth in the meeting hall. For some reason the marked man was unable to see the soldier standing silently close to the door. 

Ken was furious to say at least. His pride was taken away from him along with his beauty. He knew the queen had been kind, in his opinion weak, to let him live. The daughter of Loutus was weak. Too weak. But… it was something that he could use to his advantage. After all. He would rather see a man on the throne than that spoiled, arrogant, weak-hearted… woman.

Ken's face darkened with a devilish grin as he thought about something that would make his dream come true.

At the door Joey frowned suspiciously. Something was going on in Ken's wicked mind, and the soldier knew that whatever it was contented the queen and her safety. There was no doubt that Ken would soon try to push Yuniko off of the throne. Joey just knew.

* * *

"I am not stupid, my friend," Yuniko said calmly as Malin washed her hair. Yuniko loved to take baths and have Malin work with her hair. It was the most wonderful thing she knew. 

"Of cause not, Yuni," Malin said, but wasn't able to keep the edge of worry away from her voice. "But Ken may see your mercy as a weakness instead of an act of trust."

The queen sighed deeply. She knew Malin was right. She knew Ken would try to betray her again, and when that happened she could not show any mercy for his wellbeing. But if she threw him out of Scotland he would most certainly become one of the vampires. She could just hope he wouldn't be strong enough to get through her barrier.

"He sees my innocence as a weakness as well," she said quietly. "I wish I could make him see, make him understand, that innocence do not have to mean I am naïve or weak-hearted. I simply wish I could trust him. But he has already proven to me there is no way for me to put my faith in him. Not in this life."

Malin nodded, but couldn't get rid of the arching feeling in her heart. The princess… no, the queen wished to dearly she could trust the people that surrounded her, that she could put her entire faith in all of them and trust them to catch her when she fell. But it was impossible. May it be the people loved her, and all servants, slaves and other people adored and trusted in her. But all of them expected her to be a cliff, a mountain they could hold on to, who would protect them from everything.

Those who surrounded her… they did not see Yuniko from the same view. The queen was trying hard to be fair, though it was more than impossible to be. She knew that whatever she did, someone would be displeased.

"But what will you do once Ken decides to betray you again, Yuni?"

The queen turned to look at her and Malin slightly winched at the pain and regret she saw in the sad smile and those before so bright eyes.

"What I have to," Yuniko whispered.

* * *

April, it was the most beautiful month. Every day the queen woke up to a world cleaned by the night's rain. Scotland with its wide green hills, fields of growing grass and early flowers and herbs, and the people walking out into the sun that promised a warm day and the approaching summer. This was the time of year Yuniko loved the most: when her kingdom woke up from its winter sleep to explode with activities, bright colours, and new life. 

This morning the queen decided she would take Unicorn and Sky out. It was long since last time. And the council would have to tie her with chains and magic if they wanted to stop her.

"But my queen. We have this important…"

"Lord Erne wishes my presence when choosing his new bodyguard?"

"N…" the old man started, but a look from the mighty woman made him bow his head. "Yes, my queen."

"He does not need her majesty's presence," Malin stated coldly. "He only wishes to have her majesty inside his home so he can tell his rivals about it and that way raise his own status in his contact circle."

The man was about to say something… but he too knew the queen's nurse was right. Yuniko often said no to these kind requests. There were a lot of more important things she needed to do than visit her governors. And the council knew it too. Yuniko was still working on a way to defeat the vampires.

Ken was the only one who did not find that matter the most important. He had other plans for the queen and for Scotland.

* * *

The April sun greeted them with a wave of comfortable warmth once the two women exited the castle. Sky saw her immediately and dived down at her in pure happiness to see her. The queen laughed at her eagle's joyous squeaks and sounds as Sky rested on his mistress's arm and happily nipping her hair. Malin had realized the eagle hated when Yuniko had her hair tied or pulled back in a high ponytail. He always undid the queen's hair with his unnervingly strong beak before he settled down on her shoulder. This of cause meant that Yuniko _always_ had her hair tired up when she went to see Sky. For some reason she thought it was funny how the eagle hated it when she had done her hair. 

"Going for a ride, my queen?" a young, slightly jumpy boy said and bowed for the queen, ready to obey her every move.

"Yes, young one. But I will take her out myself or her father will be mad at me for not greeting him as well."

The boy nodded and run away, not once daring to look at the treasure's face.

"That boy is cute," Malin mumbled to her friend. "Shy and jumpy, but almost as cute as Mokuba."

"Only Unicorn and Sky is cuter than Mokuba," Yuniko defended the soon to be sixteen year old errand boy. Mokuba had chosen this life for himself. He always wanted to be the queen's errand boy and run around the castle teasing Rebecca, who had risen to a position in the kitchen. And there she was slowly becoming a little rounder around her belly. But she was cutting down because of Mokuba's never ending teasing.

It smelled good in the stable, like always. Unicorn and Shadow neighed to her in greeting. "Hello to you too, my beloved friends," Yuniko greeted.

_Mistress, mistress!_ Unicorn sang.

"It is time for you to come out and enjoy the sun for some time, Unicorn," Yuniko said and untied her pet and started to lead her outside. Malin was looking around for a horse she could use since Sunrise had died during the winter. But then again she had been very old by then.

Shadow suddenly neighed again and threw with his head. Malin stopped to look at him.

"You can take Shadow if you wish," Yuniko assured her. "He is tired of being locked up."

"But I can not control him," Malin said timidly.

"You do not need to control him, Malin."

The look Yuniko sent her nurse made Malin dare to step up to Shadow. The seven-year-old stallion snorted before he inhaled the nurse's scent. Malin smelled good of wind and spring. Shadow relaxed slightly.

"Thank you, Shadow," Malin said lowly before she untied the dark horse and lead him outside with firm moves.

Sky landed on the back of Shadow's muscular body, but the stallion didn't even flinch. He and Sky was something that most people would call friends. But Yuniko said they shared some kind of deep respect for each other, and that could not be related to friendship.

"Lady Yuniko!"

The queen turned her attention from Unicorn to Mokuba, who came running towards her as fast as his thin legs could carry him.

"Why in such a rush, my little one. Have something happened?"

Mokuba shook his head and his black hair fell into his eyes. He was a used runner so he wasn't even panting. "Not yet, Milady. But I…" the errand boy lowered his voice and leaned in close to whisper into the queen's ear.

Malin noticed the colour of the treasure's eyes darkened slightly. Whatever Mokuba whispered to her it could not be good.

"I understand. You may return to your duties."

"What will you do, Lady Yuniko?" Mokuba asked with a worried frown and concerned eyes.

"First I have to take Unicorn for a ride and let Sky know he is loved. I will deal with this problem once I return."

"Please return safe," the errand boy pleaded.

Yuniko smiled kindly at him. "I promise."

Yuniko mounted Unicorn with ease and the white horse immediately set off with Shadow and Malin soon after.

They rode south before they turned sharply east, and therefore they missed the men who left the trees' shadows, dressed in the colours of Ireland.

* * *

Malin didn't need to control Shadow. The dark stallion followed his daughter and the treasure closely, prepared to protect them whenever he felt it needed. When they finally stopped they were far away from the castle. 

Yuniko held in Unicorn when they reached a hill that was a little higher than the rest. From it they had a stunning view over the kingdom. When Malin and Shadow joined them all four of them basked in the beauty of Scotland.

The glimmer of the sea was clear from where they stood. The spring air felt fresh and easy to breath, even Shadow raised his head a little so the soft breeze could hit his nostrils directly. The land was clad in the brightest of green shades. The fields were spotted with white, yellow and red from the spring flowers. In a valley they could see a pack of white and fluffy sheep enjoying the spring day with their shepherd. The sun shone down on them with the same gentleness and loyalty as a mother's smile. Everything around them breathed of peace and gentle promises of the summer. Up here the responsibility that always rested heavily on the queen's shoulders suddenly felt very light and unimportant. Up here there was no sense of evil.

"I believe it was Lisa who said it once," Malin said lowly, never letting her eyes leave the beauty before her. "She said that nothing is beautiful for eternity. But I… I believe this beauty is eternal. Scotland is beautiful no matter how much time passes and how many years that is laid upon her shoulders. This is eternal beauty."

Yuniko smiled a bright, true smile straight from her heart. "And no matter how much time that passes… I will never stop loving this land."

Malin was silent for a moment. But then she heard her own voice say what had been on her mind for a long time: "How can such beauty accept such things as evil to walk on it?"

Yuniko turned to her nurse… and smiled again, that wise, loving smile that belonged to the queen only. "The earth does not push anyone away. Everyone, no matter what or who, can step upon it. The earth is the picture of a mother. Everything has once come from her, and never will she push away and stop loving us. The earth does not see any difference in good and bad, high and low, rich and poor… I believe that the only thing the earth wishes from us… is that we see to her once in a while."

Malin nodded, the smile on her face soft and gentle. Yuniko was right. The earth deserved to be seen once in a while, and taken care of. But Malin knew… she had seen it in younger days: even the earth hid sly traps. If you did not teat her with care she could easily take your life.

The flaps of strong wings were what finally tore Malin's eyes away from the landmass. She saw Sky carefully land on the treasure's shoulder and squeak in greeting. Unicorn threw with her head and snorted loudly to her flying friend.

"Let us ride and feel we are free once again!" Yuniko called and Unicorn neighed as she rose on her hind legs.

Malin had to cast her arms around Shadow's broad neck as the stallion did the same thing, but his voice were more powerful and his upper body lifted higher from the safe ground. The nurse held on to Shadow firmly as he took off after his daughter and the princess. For him she was still princess. It did not matter to him what the humans called her.

'Why can you not be allowed this freedom more often?' Malin thought as she saw Yuniko scream out in power and freedom along with Sky, Unicorn and Shadow who rose on their hind legs again. 'Why can you not smile this freely every day?'

* * *

It was dark by the time Yuniko and Malin returned to the castle. And there, of cause, the queen was bombarded by her council who all of them wanted his little part of attention. 

"My queen," Ken's voice suddenly cut through all the others'. "Someone special is waiting for you in the throne room."

Malin felt her hair stand out in the neck. Something was very wrong.

"I will come, as soon as I have changed," Yuniko said calmly, letting a stableman take care of Unicorn.

"He can not wait, you majesty. This is of greater importance than your looks right now."

Yuniko caught the superiority in the councilman's voice. She knew this was his second betrayal. But she had to wait. As a queen she had to always act and decide on what she knew for facts. Not what she knew by heart.

"What can possibly be so important you will not let me change from trousers into my dress?" she asked calmly.

"You must find out for yourself, your majesty."

Ken's eyes shone in triumph. Yuniko saw it. And it didn't pass Malin unnoticed either.

Without another word the queen nodded and moved towards the gate in a straight line. Not once she stopped to glare at Ken or give him a look of hurt.

* * *

The throne room was very silent. Too silent in Joey's liking. He exchanged a look with the head guard Adam who stood in the door, keeping an eye at the newcomers in the other room. Since everyone knew Ken had betrayed the queen's trust, and Ken was the one who welcomed these persons… Joey had a bad feeling flowing through his veins. 

With head lifted in her worthy pride the queen entered the room on her way to the high throne that belonged to her. Joey immediately followed her since this was a formal meeting, and he stood as the queen's personal guard. He took his place at the base of the steps that lead to the throne. From the corner of his eye he could see the queen sit down with natural elegance, the cloak swirling elegantly around her, almost as nicely as a dress.

"Send them in," the queen ordered calmly and steadily. If Yuniko was suspicious she hid it well.

The men were showed inside. It was a lord wearing the Irish colours of a high-ranked nobleman. He was old. Fifty-five or sixty years was laid upon his shoulders, but they hadn't managed to bend his back. The only shows of age on him were his grizzled hair and deepening wrinkles in his face. Otherwise he stood straight, walked with trained elegance and pride… but his brown-red eyes were cruel and power-hungry. Yuniko could so clearly see it.

Behind the lord walked a younger man who seemed to be the lord's son according to his clothing. His hair was silver blond and his timid eyes had a gentler shade of brown than his father, faintly reminding the queen of Ryouko. But this man, from his looks about twenty-five or thirty years old, was not surrounded by an air of cruelty and hunger for power. From the looks of it he wanted nothing but to run away and never come back.

These two men had own servants and guards surrounding them.

The queen waited on her throne silently, not letting her eyes betray her feelings. Once the men stood at the base of the stairs the lord and his son bowed their backs while the others kneeled with lowered heads.

"It is an honour to finally be able to meet you, you beloved queen of Scotland's green fields. I am Lord Thomas IV, and this is my son, Gabriel III," the lord greeted and had the nerve to look up into Yuniko's crystal-clear blue eyes. Malin was about to scold him for it, but the queen held up her hand. She knew this lord would not dare to be so bold if he did not have the right contacts. Another war was the last thing she needed.

"By your acts and moves I can tell you are a very high-ranked lord who dares to look me in the eyes," the queen said calmly, as if the matter was not serious. Her choice of words though clarified she questioned the old man's moral. "I admit I have not met many Irish men, but those who have been here before you have always carried important matters in their hearts. I am positive yours are as well?"

The lord was either too stupid to pick up the female ruler's request to turn his gaze down, or he simply and flatly ignored it. Whatever the case it made Joey's hand travel closer to his sword.

"My matter is of great importance, indeed," the lord said and his eyes seemed to swallow the queen whole, as if he believed she stood below him, and not as high above as she in reality did. "I am here to ask for your hand."

Malin dropped her jaw along with many servants and guards around the room. Joey's hand came to rest on the handle of his sword, but he was smart enough to not let his temper take over in a moment like this. So for the time being he settled to glare burning draggers at the Irish strangers.

The queen was the only one who looked unfazed, but her gaze slowly travelled to where Ken stood, and saw him grin in superiority. So this was what he planned? But if his plan succeeded, Scotland would…

Claws of ice grabbed Yuniko's heart. She had to think fast. But if she stayed silent much longer the lord may take it as an insult.

"Is that so?" she asked and surprised even herself to how steady and calm it sounded. "Then I hope you can forgive me my surprise. This is highly unprepared for. May I ask why you seek my hand?"

"I seek your hand…" the lord begun, taking a step closer to the stairs and was about to walk up it, but was stopped by Joey's sword.

"Only the ones given the queen's permission are allowed to come near the throne," the blond soldier said sternly, refusing his anger so leak into his voice, though his eyes glowed with it.

"Very well," the lord said, talking as if Joey was something not even worth his spit. He turned back to the queen. "I seek your hand to join forces between Scotland and Ireland, to free us all."

This time not even Yuniko could stop her eyes from widening. For a brief moment her mind came to a halt. She knew what this meant. Ken had not left anything to chance.

But even in this state the queen noticed how Malin reached for her hidden knives, how Joey started forward, how Honda reached for his sword and opened his moth to let out his loud protests, how Mokuba (who had sneaked in through the door beside the throne that was used by the castle's messengers) moved with the purpose to step in between his pretended sister and this man, and how Ryouko and Kyoko, who stood hidden behind the high doors in the far end of the room, gasped. She stood, and with a firm move of her arm she stopped all this.

"I understand your reasons, lord of Ireland," the queen spoke clearly… and unsmiling. She gracefully walked down the short flight of stairs. Even in trousers, shirt and cloak she managed to look like a true ruler and monarch. She gave her uncovered right hand. "And I accept."

"Your majesty," Malin gasped along with half of the people of the room.

The lord smirked in superiority along with Ken. "You honour my land, as well as me, you earthbound angel," he said and kissed the queen's fingers.

Joey stared at the scene. He felt like someone had just dipped him in water colder than ice. He felt betrayed… used. How could Yuniko accept this man when she had promised him her hand only a few weeks ago? How could she? Was this man's offer really so tempting to her?

What Joey did not know was that Yuniko had not forgotten. She had her promise so fresh in mind it pained her. But she knew… she had no other choice. She noticed Ken's inability to hide his cruel grin, thinking he had outwitted the queen.

'O merciful God,' Yuniko prayed in her heart. 'Help me win Joey's forgivingness. And I beg you to help Ken see what he is about to do. He does not realize the depth of his treachery to me… nor to Scotland.'


	21. History Legend Myth Fairytale

**Me**: (Peeks out from behind a stone) Hi, it's me. I really hope you remember me with a smile.

**Stina** (my dark side) : (sitting around idly polishing her nails) Get out from behind there and explain why you didn't update last month you coward.

**Me**: (sends her a hurt glare) Fine. (steps into view) I thought about it, often, I promise, but every time I thought that I would update something else came up and left me with no time to update. I'm really sorry I never had the time to...

**Stina**: Translation: **SHE FORGOT**

**Me**: Meanie

**Stina**: I'm telling the truth since you obviously are avoiding it.

**Me**: (stares at her for a moment) By the way, where did you come from?

**Stina**: (shrugs her shoulders) Your imagination, with a little help from the YGO anime.

**Me**: (sighs) Well, anyway. I know I should update two chapters this month, but if I do the deadline will be one month closer, and I must say I really can't afford that. Sorry 'bout that.

**Stina**: Enough rambling, on with the story.

* * *

**History – Legend – Myth – Fairytale**

"Fine, just perfect. Just what we needed right now," Honda said irritated and threw the last script away.

The books revealed absolutely nothing. Ryouko's diary could hint to what had happened, but since it was a diary, the writing wasn't really revealing anything of importance.

Bakura, in utter frustration, read the last page of the diary silently to himself again.

_June 13, 1631_

_Midsummer__ is closing in, yet I can find no joy in the event. We have been here for one and a half year. But she did not last that long. Scotland is in chaos. It was not supposed to be like this. We who are left can not pick up the pieces however much we try. And the pieces we have will soon be nothing but a memory._

_The stars are not able to shine as bright as before. The sun is not able to share warmth anymore. Her kingdom, what she fought so hard to defend, is falling apart._

_Miss Malin too is fading away. It is very hesitantly she leaves her pencil and papers to come and eat. She starves herself. There is so little left. Kyoko has fallen ill, and Marie say it will take a miracle for her to survive. I too feel like I have not much time left. I can only hope my lifeline is long enough for me to finish the last of my memories. But if not time will put me to rest, then this chaos will._

Bakura groaned in annoyance. "This won't lead anywhere," he growled. "And if you mention that black book one more time I will castrate you, fry it and force you to eat it," he continued as he felt rather than saw Yami's mouth open.

"Well… should we go through what we have once again?" Anzu said hopefully.

"For the umpteenth time," Jono mumbled under his breath. "Fine," he said out loud and picked up some notes to start from the very beginning. "The princess was born 1612 in the north of Scotland as the only child of Loutus III and his queen Yue."

"And according to the diary the princess had a bother," Bakura said from his place on the bed.

Honda didn't even pick up the notes. "1615 the queen was banished for reasons unknown, with the promise to return, but never did."

Anzu sighed as she picked up a book. "The Battle Princess grows up in Scotland. At the age of fourteen, 1626, she was named as Great Brittan's highest beauty ever. And 1630 the king pass away in illness."

"Mars 1630 Yuniko is crowned to lonely queen over Scotland," Yami said with his head resting on the wall behind him. He knew all of these facts by now, as many times as they have gone through them. "And the same year she disappears, reason unknown, and Scotland is left without monarch, causing a war between the noblemen who wanted the throne, as well as England who saw it as an opportunity to widen their own kingdom."

"According to the diary and the painting she probably died." Bakura sighed. "This is too little to be interesting."

"Or explaining," Yami agreed. "This does not explain why Yugi, Ryou, Malik or Seto would dream about it. If it was something important I would understand and accept. But this is simply too little."

"So…" Jono started placing Seto's and his own notes in a heap. "Shall we go to the library and try to find something more interesting? After all, we have done their job for them now."

That was true. Though it was not much interesting information, Bakura, Yami, Honda, Jono and Anzu had done the four Dreamers history search in the latest hours.

"Good idea," Anzu said and stood up, before she heard a few growls from the guys' stomachs. "But first we might as well eat something. Where's the kitchen?"

* * *

The grand library, to where Yami & co returned all the stuff Yugi and the others had borrowed, revealed nothing the five youths didn't already know. The stuff the Dreamers had borrowed seemed to be everything that library had. Now they were at a very small bookstore with much older books. It was actually very comfortable in here. It was dimly lit, but had it been stronger the cosiness would be gone. It smelled of dust, paper and old books, but for some reason it made everyone relaxed. 

"Battle Princess?"

"Yes, do you know anything about her?" Bakura asked hopefully.

"That old fairytale?" the elderly woman asked.

"Fairytale?" Jono said surprised. "No, we're looking for facts, not some kind of tale."

"Well," the woman looked very thoughtful for a long moment. "I know it is based on a real person, but the Battle Princess is nothing but a legend, a myth, a fairytale."

The five youths exchanged surprised and confused stares, before Honda lead the word. "Well, we would need about anything we can get our hands on."

The old woman nodded, once again thoughtful, before she slowly stood up. "I do know we have something about her. My mother was fascinated about her when she travelled to Scotland once. She visited an old ruin, named The White Castle for its white stones. She told me she had found an undone painting in there. A painting of a woman with the heaven in her eyes and a face like an angel or a saint. But then again, the painting had been there for a long time, and there was not much left. What she did find was… this one." She picked out a thin book with faded red and black cover. The letters were so faded they were almost impossible to make out. Hadn't the five friends known what it said they would never have been able to guess.

"What is this?" Bakura asked, leaning forward in interest.

"It is something my late mother found, very well preserved, in the white castle," the old woman said and tenderly stroked the thin book's old cover. The teens leaned in. This was interesting, compared to the other things they had found that day.

"May I see it?" Yami asked and reached his hand to accept the book.

"It is very hard English, young ones," the woman said, but still handed Yami the book. "Be careful with it. There is no other exemplar in the entire world."

Yami nodded eagerly in understanding before he and his friends looked around for a table that was not already occupied with mountains of books. They found a small one in a corner and had to bring chairs and a lamp to it. But as they opened the book they found themselves disappointed.

"What kind of language is this?" Jono asked annoyed.

"She said English," Bakura said lowly, glaring at the words he could not even make out.

"You mean ancient English," Yami hissed and showed the book away from him.

"We finally found something useful and we can't even read it," Anzu said and glared at the book as if she demanded it to reveal its secrets.

"Do you need any help, young ones?" the old lady asked as she walked over to them. She moved with strange grace between the mountains of books though she was so old. No youth could ever move as easily in here as her.

"Yes, very much, please," Anzu said and gave the old woman a pleading look.

"Do not look at me like that. I can read that as well as you with my old eyes. You must wait for my young ones. They can easily read that for you. But while you wait I thought you might find this interesting."

From her pocket she picked a cross that was probably made of silver, but it had dulled with time. In each edge a stone was engraved, but they too were very dull and lifeless. The cross hung in a thin chain that looked very breakable.

"What is this?" Bakura asked carefully, leaning forward to see better.

"Look at the first page in the book," the old lady advised.

Yami snatched the book from the middle of the table and flipped the first page up for all of them to view.

"Jesus Christ!"

"Mon Dieu!"

"Oh my God…"

The teens could just stare at the still very clear ink drawing of the Battle Princess fighting off some kind of dark beings. It was a completely different image than the one Yami had found in the black book. But that was not it. The thing was that it was Yugi's face with an expression no one knowing him would ever imagine him capable of. It was filled with pure anger, and maybe even hate.

"This can not be the girl we are looking for," Anzu said lowly.

"It must be," Honda argued. "The cover says Battle Princess after all."

"But still…" Bakura voiced. "This is not the same girl."

"It can't possibly be," Yami agreed.

"Have you figured out what this cross has to do with that drawing?" the old lady asked patiently.

Jono was the first to see the connection. "This girl has it too," he said.

"Observant, young man. This has in all times belonged to the Battle Princess."

The teens stared at the old woman with wide eyes. When she realized why she could not stop herself from chuckling. "No, no. I am not the one you seek. And the cross is dull in my hands. Had I been the Battle Princess It would have been as clear as if it had been made just this morning."

"But you said-" Anzu started.

"That I do not believe the Battle Princess to be history? I must say I pretended. You see, you are not the first ones who seek the story of the princess of Scotland." The lady took seat in a chair, letting the crucifix rest in her lap. "The ones before you have sought facts about her, but what they found they only laughed at and threw aside. The church could not accept the history to be passed down. The catholic priests and the pope of Roma could not accept a woman as the one ruling a kingdom on her own. Yes, Elisabeth I of England had ruled England and parts of Ireland in the second half of sixteenth century, but her story and reason to rule was acceptable, the Battle Princess's was not. The story about the princess of Scotland… it has always been laughed at until it has been forgotten by everyone, but the land of Scotland itself."

"You… sound like you know very much about her," Yami said, leaning very far forward, as if he was afraid he would miss one single word leaving the old lady's lips.

"I will not brag about it, nor am I proud of it, but I have always loved the Battle Princess. She is laughed at and made fun of because she was a woman who alone defeated the world's greatest enemy and the greatest threat of mankind. But it is no beautiful fairytale. It is tragic and hard to understand."

"Do you know what happened to the princess?" Bakura asked.

"Yes… yes, I know," the old lady said slowly. "But you will have to read the story for yourselves. And for that you will have to wait for my young apprentices, Hoshi and Yosei."

"Beautiful names," Jono mumbled as the old lady walked back to the desk to continue whatever she was working with.

"Anzu, can your old Pa read English?" Bakura asked with a sweet smile that was more or less demanding her to say yes.

The French girl fidgeted in her chair. "Um… no. He can only read French, Dutch and Finnish. Don't ask me about the last one."

Bakura and Yami sighed in union. None of them were really patient enough to wait for those two. No one knew when they would come after all.

"Grandma Karin, we're back!" called a voice from the entrance. Or was it two? Whatever the number it made the group of teens jump up from their seats to look at the new appearance.

"Oh, we have guests?" the ones in the door said in another perfect union.

"Girls, how good to see you back so soon," the old lady, now known as Grandma Karin, greeted her two young apprentices. "These youths are in desperate need of your help. They have come for the Battle Princess."

There was a silence where the groups studied each other. Hoshi and Yosei looked like twins, but… yet they did not. Well, they looked exactly alike, and still like the other's opposite.

"Hi there, fellows," the one to the left said with a smile so bright she looked like a sun. "My name is Hoshi, and that is my little sister Yosei."

Suddenly their names didn't seem as strange anymore. Hoshi had the brightest green eyes, alabaster white skin, hair like the purest gold, and body that made all the boys stare, and probably would cause a traffic accident. She dressed in a tight blue and pink top that exposed both shoulders and her stomach, and she had pulled it low to expose her remarkable chest. Her pleated skirt had the same shades of blue and pink as her top, but it also involved some streaks of a bright, yellow colour. They suited very well together on her, though they would look ridicules on her sister. And Hoshi's smile talked for itself. It was a sun and star in its full pronounced nature.

Yosei's skin was dark, even darker than Malik's. Her hair had such a deep brown hue it looked black in the dull light. Her green eyes were much darker than her sister's and she dressed in a short Isabella white dress with a gold-yellow sash around her waist. But as her sister moved easily, Yosei moved with such grace she appeared like a fairy. Her body was not such a traffic danger as her sister's either, tough he really had the legs.

Bakura was the first one to stop staring at Hoshi's body. He picked up the old book and held it up for the twins to see. "Can you read this?"

Hoshi stared at the text with a slight frown on her pretty face.

"I can," Yosei said with a sweet smile as she carefully took the book from Bakura. "The story about the Battle Princess is my favourite one."

Hoshi's eyes lit up in delight. "The Battle Princess? I love that story. She was so cool when she fought off all those vampires in the lead of her army."

"Vampires?" Bakura, Yami, Jono, Honda and Anzu all stared at the bright twin.

"Those are the reason the story of the Battle Princess is said to be nothing but a fairytale," Grandma Karin said from behind the desk.

"You mean vampires have really existed… for real?" Jono asked with wide eyes.

"There may as well still be some left out there," Karin said and looked up at the teens over her glasses. "But they promised the princess to never again turn another human into one of them. So there is very few left in our time."

The way Karin said it sent cold shivers down Jono, Honda and Anzu's spines. Bakura and Yami were somehow not really surprised.

"Well, could you please translate this to us, Yosei?" Yami asked the dark twin.

"Sure, but it will take some time," she answered, her eyes never leaving the handwritten letters. "Please come with me."

Hoshi and Yosei lead the way between books and bookcases into a small office where Yosei sat down in a comfortable looking chair. Hoshi helped the rest of the gang bring chairs into the small office before she left in order to put some order in the library. Karin was too old to keep the order, and burglars were not actually unusual.

"Can you really read that?" Honda asked after a moment.

"Yes, but to translate it is something else. This was written in the first half of the seventeenth century's Scotland. It is quite different to understand and to translate."

"Can't you just read it in its original form and we may be able to understand for ourselves," Yami suggested.

"Scottish and English is not really the same language," Yosei explained. "The same roots, yes, but still not exactly the same. The pronouncing may be very hard for you to understand. And as I said, this is from the seventeenth century, which means the language has changed quite some bit since then."

All this Yosei said without looking up from the text she was reading. Obviously she was one of those people you meet once in a lifetime that can do three things at the same time.

Anzu turned to Yami and whispered. "Do you think we will get out of here today?"

Yami would have answered, had Yosei not sent him that look which told him she had heard. So he settled down to just shrug his shoulders.

"I think I have it now," Yosei said not long after. She leaned forward along with the rest of the occupants of the room. "I can not promise you it is exact, but it is as close as I can do in the hurry. If you give me some time I can have an exact translation done tomorrow if you'd like."

"Tell us what you got," Yami and Bakura said in union.

Jono and Honda stared at the arch enemies who glared at each other, before they returned their attention to Yosei.

"The times when fear and pain will break the chain. The Battle Princess is reborn to protect the human world."

Bakura raised an elegant eyebrow in slight confusion. There was just something wrong with the sentences. But he could not really put his finger on it.

"As I said, it is not exact," Yosei, who had obviously seen his action, said before she returned to the text. "Gained and lost, the battle must be won… Stripped of beauty the lord is vengeful." Yosei bit her lip and her brows furrowed in concentration. "I'm not sure of the next lines."

"Well, while you try to make out the rest, we may as well try to make out some sense in what you've gotten us this far," Bakura said.

Yosei nodded in agreement and leaned back while biting her little finger in thought.

"Well," Jono started. "Any ideas?"

Yami rested his elbows on his knees and his head on his hands. "Well, I think it's best if we wait until Yosei has an exact translation of the text."

"And I can't say I disagree," Bakura started. "But for some crazy reason I think this is important for what we may find later."

"Forgive me, but there is this little problem that the text seems to be written as some kind of riddle," Honda said with a muscle under his eyebrow snapping.

"Riddle?" Anzu asked. "I think it's quite clear."

The boys stared at her. "You sure are full of surprises, Anzu," Yami said and leaned closer to her. "What have you found that we are still looking for?"

"Well…" Anzu said while blushing for having all the boys staring so intently at her. "She said 'Times of fear and pain'. I think that it is the time when our princess lived. If it is true that vampires existed in her time the times must have been very… worried, so to say. After all, she mentioned a battle that they had to win as well."

"I have fallen in love with your ability to see what is hidden for the rest of us," Honda said as a joke. "Can't you share your ability with us?"

Anzu blushed deeply, but then she returned to her explanations. "Then I think she said that the Battle Princess was reborn. I believe that our Battle Princess may not be the first one. So her history goes even further back in time."

"Wait a sec," Bakura suddenly cut off. "Don't you think it's strange?"

"What?" Yami asked.

"This book and Ryouko's diary was written at the same time. Why did none of us have any problems to read her English?"

There was a silence when everyone just stared at each other, as if they suspected that the other was sitting on the answers they were looking for.

"Okay, I got the rest," Yosei suddenly announced and leaned forward again.

"Give us everything," Yami and Bakura said in another fine union, and glared at each other.

"As you wish. A place without belief, painful bonds are tied. Trust is torn and love too worn." Yosei bit her lip as she turned the page. "I'm not really sure this is right," she admitted. "Sorrow grief in the night of dark… that for sure didn't sound right."

"Nothing has done this far, so just keep it up and we shall just try to not fall over in our own confusion during that time," Honda said. He was seriously tired of being confused.

"I can give you a more exact translation, but you will have to wait till tomorrow then."

"And if I don't hear this now I won't be able to sleep tonight," Yami said, sending the dark twin a pleading look.

"I won't sleep anyway," Bakura mumbled mostly to himself.

Yosei shrugged her shoulders and returned to the text. "One heart of light. Now and then the word I seek is shining through the darkness. Give this feeling once more, the lord is kneeling. Grief and sorrow's opposite save the morning light. Light will never leave… I think it says that you give in for death or something, but I'm not sure. I don't really know what this word means."

"Don't stop there," Jono said somewhat exited. "You have lost me long ago, so you might as well lose me some more."

Yosei gave the blond a killing glare. She hated it when someone made a fool of her. "You can try to translate this yourself if you want," she said with eyes so dark they almost looked black.

"I've already tried, and I have to say I failed."

"Then don't say my work is bad."

"Okay, okay. No one could have done this better."

Yosei was about to continue her argument with the stupid blond when her sister dashed inside.

"Found it!" she sang happily.

"Found what?" Honda said interested, hoping that there finally had come up something that could clear the group's constant confusion.

"This, the written book about the Battle Princess, written by the nurse Miss Malin herself. With pictures!"

"In Japanese?" the entire gang asked excitedly.

"Unfortunately not. The tale was said to be absurd when it was written, but in Scotland it is more or less a holy story, so it has been written in newer Scottish and English. This is the latest translation, and it is in English."

"Perfect!" Honda sang and ran up to the girl and hugged her. "I love you!"

"Get your hands off of my sister or I will kick your ass till there's nothing left of it!"

Honda immediately released the bright twin. Yosei really looked like she meant what she said.

"Well, you were just trying to translate that text for us. Please continue."

Yosei slowly sat down and returned to the text. It took her some time to pick up the line. "What is the dark lord hiding? Love, home… pride? Hiding the star of heart and darkness is blinding."

"Huh?"

The dark twin ignored the three sounds of confusion. "I leave you with this to find the rest on your own. The word is the star in her. In light even darkness… retreat… I think."

The boys and Hoshi looked lost.

"Anzu," Honda and Jono said in union, sending the girl their most blinding smiles.

"I'm not sure either," the girl admitted, which made the boys' heads lower in defeat. "It was not only about the Battle Princess," Anzu explained. "There were more to it. But I think we will be smarter once Yosei has given us a more exact translation. Will you do that for us, Yosei?"

"Well, since you ask so nicely, alright."

"You're an angel," Yami prised the girl.

"You too, Hoshi," Bakura said and walked up to the blonde girl. "Can I have that book?"

"Hold it!" Yami yelled and pointed threatening at his enemy. "It's my brother, so I'll read that book first."

"This is not only about Yugi. Ryou is dreaming as well," Bakura hissed.

"Well, these are the Yami and Bakura I know," Honda mumbled to Jono, who nodded in agreement.

Yami was about to return when the twins suddenly cut them off. "What are you talking about?"

Yami's threat changed tone immediately as he didn't face Bakura anymore. "My little brother turned into the hosp last week, and we have figured that he is dreaming, possibly about an earlier life. We think that he once was the Battle Princess."

The twins' jaws slowly fell to the floor.

"Hoshi!" Yosei yelled and jumped over to her sister and both of them hid their noses in the book about the Battle Princess. On the cover there was a beautiful picture of the princess's face, Yugi's face.

When the twins looked up it was Yami they stared at. "You're the princess's brother?"

"Eh?"

"You're the one who killed her!"

For Yami, the world stopped. Those few words killed his heart and it forgot how to beat. It was like someone had dropped him into a frozen sea to never again pick him up.

"I…" he started, but the hyper twins interrupted.

"No I remember the story," Yosei said, looking at the open page of the book.

"The prince Atemu was killed on the night of the Battle Princess Yuniko's sixteenth birthday," Hoshi continued. "But two years later he returned from the dead. It is said he wanted the throne of Scotland, but the princess refused and declared war against her brother and his army of vampires, why she later gained the title of Battle Princess among the people of Scotland. The story ends with the princess's death when she defended a friend from being killed, and took on the death of her friend. That also put an end to the war, but that… no one knows how."

Yami just stood there, numb and cold. Bakura glanced at him, wondering if he should try to comfort him. Yami could be bull-headed, egoistic, self-centred, ignorant and all that shit. But Yugi was his little brother, nothing in the world could change that fact. And of cause brothers, and all siblings in the world for that matter, fought and teased each other more or less, no exceptions. But still no older brother or sister, with historical exceptions of cause, would ever even come up with a ghost of the thought of killing their younger siblings. But in the room, Bakura was the only one who realized that. The others just stared at Yami with more or less disbelief.

"Okay, that's it for today," Bakura suddenly spoke loudly and snapped the book from the twins. "I will borrow this for a few days. Yosei, we will be more than grateful if you can give us a better translation of that poem when we return tomorrow. And you're coming with me," he finished and grabbed Yami's collar and dragged him outside before anyone had a chance to protest. "Grandma Karin. We're borrowing this for a few days. I promise you we will return it as soon as possible. Good night!"

The old lady only nodded in understanding. But as the two boys left, their friends soon after, her grey eyes changed into a clear, red colour. Yosei and Hoshi walked out of the office with empty eyes. None of them reacted at their old grandma changing form right in front of their eyes.

"Do not fear, young ladies," Scot said kindly. "I will not control you forever, and I have not killed your beloved grandmother."

The old priest stood up, and walked over to a window where he could see the group of youths talk outside. "The seal will break soon," he said lowly. "This evil circle must be broken. Thousand years has passed since the first battle. At that time she only put a seal on us out of kindness and hope. The second battle, five hundred years later, she defeated us almost completely, but left only the few of us, not able to bear the deaths of ours. This time, this last time, she must erase our existence completely, or she will never find peace in mind… or heart."

"I should have guessed this much," a familiar voice said from the shadows.

"Oh? Long time no see, your majesty," Scot greeted without turning around.

"Your language has not changed with the years, my old friend," the other said and stepped up to him.

"You and I are still of the same sort, I can find no reason to show you the same respect now as I did when we were both alive."

The other smirked. "Now, now. We are not enemies. We are both fighting for the same thing: my daughter's victory."

Scot nodded and turned to the Battle Princess's father. "True, but also for the prince to tear his eyes away from what his sister has been, to what she has become."

Loutus nodded slowly. "Yes, the only thing you and I can do now is to help my son understand. The rest is up to Yuniko."

"And her little friends, my king."


	22. Trust is what is torn

Here you go, a little late for the month, but "better late than never" some wiseperson once said.

This chapteris quite long, so I hope it makes up for the wait (and for missing out on January... did I spell that correctly?)

Well, since I have no more to say please enjoy the chapter.

* * *

**Trust is what is torn**

Yuniko was alone that night, Malin having been ordered to not sleep in her room until after the wedding. She stood in the window watching the heavy rain and darkness outside. Her reflection looked perfect. Nowhere in Scotland or anywhere else a woman had skin as smooth as hers. The queen's hair was washed, dried and combed and gleamed with health. Her body was a man's dream come true, perfectly shaped, curved and toned. She looked respectable and proud, calm and safe. But all these things did not mirror the queen's insides. 

Yuniko's heart was breaking apart. She wanted to cry, to scream, to throw a fit, to be angry. She knew she needed it. She knew she could not keep it bottled up inside forever. But she also knew she had to. She had to win this war, even if she had to sacrifice her own happiness. She simply could not leave Scotland. 

But she had never felt so lonely. 

There was a knocking on the door, and Yuniko, though having never heard the knocks, knew who it was. And at the same time she felt them enter the barrier. 

"Come in," she called calmly. 

Gabriel stepped inside timidly. Outside Yuniko could see Joey glare coldly at him, but he never sent Yuniko a glance. He was still angry with her. 

"What leads you to my chambers, my guest?" Normally the queen would call any of her guests for friend, but tonight she felt her anger choose her words for her. 

"I… my queen… I simply wished to say… I ask you to forgive my father's earlier behaviour. His judgement has fallen with the years he have been alive." 

Yuniko threw a glance out the window. They were not far from the castle now. "I wish to hear those words from his own mouth, my guest," she said flatly. "But you could request him to not test my patience. It is already very thin." 

The man bowed clumsily. "I-I will, my queen. I shall…" 

"And do not mention I have requested it," Yuniko demanded almost harshly, making Gabriel flinch. 

"No, of cause not, your majesty," he said quickly. 

"I will notice if you do," the queen warned. She could feel them nearby now. But it was not for her they aimed. It was for… "You should go to your father. He will soon be visited by… nightly visitors. And I have to say I can not protect him. He has yet to earn my trust." 

Gabriel gave her a strange look. "Um, if your majesty accepts, I would like to talk to you a little… less formal." 

"If you give me a reason," the queen answered calmly. "And I can already tell that your reasons are not enough." 

Gabriel frowned slightly, but quickly stopped. "I simply wish to be your friend. I know… father is not the best anymore. But since you will have to give birth to…" what Gabriel was about to say never left his lips. The queen silenced him by slapping him across the face so hard he fell over. The man hadn't even registered she had moved. 

Joey, who had obviously heard, threw the door open with his hand on his sword… and stopped at the sight of the scene. 

"Never… ever again talk about such in my presence," Yuniko warned and venom dripped from her words. 

Gabriel looked up at her with fear and surprise. It was not legal for a monarch to slap anybody, but the subject was something Yuniko thought she would never accept. Not with a man whose heart was not in his body, but on the ground in the shape of a stone. 

"They are here," Yuniko said suddenly, and only Joey knew what she meant. Therefore he stepped inside and glared at the window. 

"Not here, Joey," the queen smiled, and before she could mention where the vampires were at, a loud, unfamiliar scream echoed through the hallways. 

"Father!" Gabriel realized and was up and out of the room in a flash. But Yuniko and Joey stood still. The guard glanced at the queen. 

"Well? What shall you do?" 

Yuniko gave him a sly smile, but her eyes were cold. It made Joey shiver. "Come with me. This should be a sight enough to make God himself laugh." 

Joey didn't know what to think. This was a whole new side of the otherwise always caring and worrying Yuniko who was his friend. But then again… she probably had good reasons. She always had. 

As Yuniko and Joey walked down the corridors they met a few guards on their way to bring their queen so she could solve the problem. The screams were demanding now. It threw orders to left and right and the corridor was becoming crowded. But as the queen neared, they parted to make room for her and Joey. Everything silenced at once. Yuniko's fiancé was sitting in a disorganized heap on the floor and stared at her. 

"Are you having any trouble?" she asked sweetly. 

"There was a monster in my room. It was huge with black wings and eyes like the devil himself…" 

"Blue?" the queen asked. She knew it was either Aku or her brother. The one-eyed Crow would have killed him, and he was not hunting much in Scotland since she put up the barrier. Last time Yuniko had seen him was when the former king, her father,had been taken away. 

The lord opened his mouth, but what he was meant to say was not what fell over his lips. "You knew of this!" 

Yuniko raised an elegant eyebrow, not responding. 

"Everybody does." 

Thomas spun around and was met by the coldest eyes he had ever seen. Malin stood with her arms crossed and with a serious and blaming face. Though dressed in nightgown she looked like an angry mother who waited for her child to explain himself. 

"Everyone knows about your nightly guest. Your scream was heard to the other side of the great wall." 

Yuniko flashed her nurse a quick smile. She had picked up the hint and was ridiculing the lord. 

**"I MEANT THAT MONSTER!"** Thomas yelled with his eyes wide with fury. 

"Now, now," Yuniko said calmly as she walked to the lord's room and stepped into the overly decoded chamber Thomas had been given. He had taken quite some freedom, indeed. But the queen was not interested in any of these things. She walked straight to the closed window. "Since you were welcomed by Sir Ken, I believed you knew everything there is to know about my kingdom." She opened the window wide. They were already leaving. "But by your reaction I can say that is not the case. And therefore I guess your offer to join forces with Scotland was for other reasons but the one which visited you tonight." She was silent for a moment. "Or you are simply afraid of the dark," she added as an afterthought. 

Joey and Mokuba made chocked sounds and Honda coughed to cover his laugher caused by Lord Thomas's face. 

**"WOMAN! I WILL NOT STAND HERE AND TAKE ALL OF YOUR BULLSHIT. TELL ME RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, WHAT IS GOING ON, WHAT THAT MONSTER WAS AND WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE DEVIL YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!" **

When Thomas was done yelling Yuniko did something she had never done before in her life. She turned around and glared harshly at the lord. 

"Lord Thomas," she said lowly, but the silence her voice caused made the words echo throughout the room and the corridor outside. "I admit I do not know how you are used to live and talk, but now your language is taking way too much freedom, as are you. You do not stand above me, but below. You are a lord, and I am queen. And as queen I await you to address me as such. Nothing in the world will change that fact. In other words; you have no right to yell orders at me. I can easily have you killed for it. It is my soldiers who are standing behind you, not your own." 

Lord Thomas looked around and realized his own guards were not present. The ones around him were all unfamiliar and dressed in Scotland's colours. 

"Now you are very lucky," the queen continued. "I will give you another chance. One. Other. Chance… If you keep acting like you are the one giving orders around here you will be in trouble. Not only are you without my protection, which you need once _they_ become hungry, but you are also completely without my trust." 

Joey felt how the corners of his lips moved upwards no matter how hard he tried to fight it. There was a reason Yuniko had accepted this perverted man's offer. Throwing a glance at Malin he noticed she too had a problem controlling her features. 

"With this I bid you good night," the queen stated flatly. "It is late and I am tired. We have plenty of time to discuss tonight's events tomorrow." 

Yuniko swiftly walked out of the room and the crowd parted quickly to clear the way for her. "Malin. Joey," she called over her shoulder as an order for them to follow her. Malin took Mokuba's hand and took him with her. Yuniko said nothing, but she felt so much better now than before. It had been fun to make a fool of Lord Thomas. 

"Queen!" lord Thomas yelled after them. Yuniko looked over her shoulder. "What do I do if that monster returns?" 

"Well, how did you get rid of it last time?" The queen gave him a meaning look before she turned around again. She could actually feel the burning glare she received. But she only smirked to herself. 

In the safety of the queen's room, Malin, Joey and Mokuba all burst into quiet laugher. Not even Yuniko could hold back a giggle. 

"That was…" Malin gasped. "That was the f-funniest thi-hi-hi-hi-hing I have seen since Rebe-he-he-he-cca chased M-Mokuba through the entire castle with a towel." 

"She-he-he-he was so mad at me," Mokuba giggled. 

"Di-id you se-he-he his face? Priceless." Joey was using the bed for support as he held his arching stomach. 

Yuniko seriously tried to calm down, but as she looked at her friends it was impossible for her to keep her mask up. "Yes. It was… it was fun to blow some steam. I-I needed that." 

"Can we…" Malin started, but then took a very deep breath to calm down. "Can we bully him from now on?" 

Yuniko sat down heavily in a chair. "I can not let you do that. He will force me to get rid of his troubles. And I can not do that." 

"Can we sleep in here tonight?" Mokuba suddenly asked eagerly, making the queen blink. "Please," the errand boy added. 

Yuniko just smiled that warm, wonderful smile she was known for. "How can I ever say no when you are the one asking?" 

Mokuba, now fifteen years old, smiled broadly, showing his perfect lines of white teeth. "Joey too?" 

Malin was about to scold the errand boy, when Yuniko answered: "Boys in Malin's bed, and girls in mine." 

Playfully Joey snapped his fingers in a pretended disappointed action, which made Mokuba and the two girls fall over in laugher. 

* * *

When the queen entered the meeting room that morning, dressed in a beautiful dress in a strong blue colour that made her eyes seem brighter, she was met by a furious, red eyed Lord Thomas and his son.

"Good morning. Have you slept well?" the queen asked politely. Joey choked his snort of amusement by biting his lip to the point of pain. 

The lord looked like he very much wanted to yell and scream at the woman, but she had warned him to do so last night, so he seriously tried to keep his high temper in check. 

"I have hardly slept at all… my queen." He sent a murderous glance at Ken, whose face could have been carved from stone. 

"How come? Did your nightly guest scare you so much?" 

Lord Thomas trembled from rage. "No one will answer my questions about what that monster was." 

The queen nodded in understanding. "It has a logical explanation, my lord of Ireland. There is no one in my kingdom who knows what exactly those creatures are." 

Malin was breathing heavier, but all in silence and Joey was trying hard to not puncture his lip and keeping from making a sound at the same time. But other from them, the air was serious as death. 

"But you… you can tell me what you believe that creature to be?" Lord Thomas asked, not being able to keep the edges of anger from his voice. "Three of my men went missing this night, and there is no single track of them. The witnesses say that two winged creatures grabbed them and flew away." 

Malin and Joey immediately became serious. But not silent. "Where did your men disappear from? They can not have been inside the castle," Malin stated. 

The lord was about to spit at her, when Yuniko spoke up, with a sharpness no one had heard in her voice before. "Answer the question!" 

"…On the great wall, queen." 

"Then it is not surprising you have lost your men," Joey said as a matter of fact. "I guess they were untold of the dangers, and therefore went to the wall with no protection. Did they not ask why there stood no Scottish guards on the wall?" 

The lord took a deep breath, looking like it was deep under his dignity to talk to a guard. But once again Yuniko spoke up before him. "You should not judge from the outside, my dear. Joey is the son of a lord on your own level." 

All Irish men stared at the blond soldier with gaping mouths. The queen had no reasons to lie, not in a moment like this. Joey was dressed like every other soldier since he did not care much about his title, but he could be as proud and confident as the queen herself if he wanted. 

"They call themselves 'vampires'," the queen said suddenly, coming back to the actual subject. "They are creatures of the night that has tormented Scotland for ten years. They live on human blood, but they run from the power of God. We believe they are beings from Hell. There are very few things we have found that we can protect ourselves with, but the first thing, the standard protection, is a crucifix. There should be no human of my kingdom that does not carry a crucifix around. Forgive me for not telling you this earlier, but I believed Ken had already told you everything, and that was why you asked for my hand." 

It was quiet like a grave when the queen's voice rang out. "But obviously we were wrong," Malin said lowly. 

"So let me ask you now, why did you ask for Lady Yuniko's hand?" Joey asked, and his voice left no room for either protests or lies. 

Lord Thomas threw a glance at Ken, who stood at the queen's side, for support. "I meant what I said about joining forces, beloved queen of Scotland," he started. "But I admit it was not for the reasons you have mentioned. I have heard strange rumours, but I must say I did not listen too closely. All I picked up was you searching for a suitable husband to rule the kingdom by your side." 

Malin was about so speak up, but before she had opened her mouth the queen held up a finger to silence her. 

"I also picked up something between the lines of 'need of help', so I came to ask for your hand. Sir Ken and I are friends from old, so it was him I sent my letter to about my arrival. But still, my solders are all strong, well trained and very loyal. You may test them all if you wish." 

Joey was about to snort something insulting, but the queen's finger stopped him. 

"Very well," she said and stood. "I shall bring some of my men and test yours on the courtyard. I hope you do not have anything against an audience?" 

Lord Thomas smirked, and Ken with him. "Not at all, my beloved." 

* * *

"Let me take them," Joey demanded once they had left the meeting for the training halls to pick a few soldiers that could take on the challenge.

"He said his men are loyal," the queen said instead. 

"So what?" 

"So very much. They are loyal to him. This, in return, means that he can order them to have me killed, tell on one of my own men whom they have managed to bribe, and get his hands on the throne. You of all should know what would happen next." 

" Scotland will fall!" Joey breathed. 

"True. And therefore I need to let Lord Thomas underestimate me." 

"Your majesty!" 

The queen stopped and turned around to face her friend, to whom she had promised her hand. "No buts, Joey. It is a direct order." 

Joey swallowed hard and glared at the queen, but then let his gaze fall. "As you command, my queen." 

The words cut deep into Yuniko's heart. She could not tell the whole story. Not yet. It was too early. She hoped that Ken would soon realize his mistake. If not… she was not sure of what to do, but knew what she _had_ to do in order to keep her kingdom safe. 

Once they reached the training hall, they were met by the head guard Adam. "My queen. The little errand boy has already informed me about your decision. Therefore I have prepared my best soldiers to…" 

"No," the queen cut him off. "Not your best. And not your lowest. I need a few men with experience, but not your best men. I have to test the strength of Lord Thomas, and that I can do only with good soldiers who are used to fight and can hold out for some time. But they do not have to be your best fighters." 

Adam looked at her strangely, before he suddenly understood what she meant, and nodded in agreement. "As you command, my queen," he said and bowed deeply. "You have never made a mistake before, and I doubt you will start making them now." 

"Thank you, my friend," Yuniko said with a grateful smile. "And I certainly hope you are right." 

* * *

On the courtyard Lord Thomas waited with his soldiers. "You know what to do, right?" he mumbled discreetly, almost without moving his lips, to his head guard.

"From the beginning to the very end, my lord," the man stated. 

'She is said to have brave and skilful soldiers,' Thomas thought to himself. 'But they have no chance against my brain. She is, and will always be, a simple woman. They are born only to be faithful servants in bed.' 

The queen stalked out of the castle with such long strides her men almost seemed to be jogging behind her. They all took their known places, the soldiers at their queen's side and the queen herself on the moveable throne that had been taken outside. She and Lord Thomas sat under a shelter to protect them both from both sun and rain. Malin was already there, having been ordered to keep an eye on the Irish lord and Ken. 

Lord Thomas smirked cruelly to himself and waved one of his soldiers forward. A tall, slender man with green eyes and a baby face stepped forward. He bowed deeply to his lord and just as deep for the queen, but with less respect. Malin's eyes narrowed. 

Yuniko studied the soldier with sharp eyes. This man did not know his place, that was for sure. His eyes moved up and down her body, but there was slyness in his eyes. She would have to look out for this one. 

With a wave of her finger, a short, but well built, man stepped forward. Instead of a sword he wore a double-edged axe with a short, steady handle made of what looked like black wood. The man had deep scars over both his arms and his face was bitten by weather and wind. He was strong and persistent, but slow. 

The queen nodded. 

Joey narrowed his eyes from where he stood, close behind the queen's throne, at the fight. The dwarf, as he was called, had fought tough battles before, but his opponent wasn't fair. Dwarf took full use his size and strength, but the Irish soldier, long and fast, aimed for Dwarf's body and eyes, not to disarm his opponent. 

"Enough!" the queen suddenly yelled. All eyes turned to her. She had raised from her seat and glared harshly at the fighters. "This is not a battle of life or death. All you shall do is disarm your opponent, not killing each other. Is that understood?" she locked eyes with the Irish soldier, who immediately brought his eyes down at the power of the queen's gaze. "Y-yes ma'am," he mumbled. 

"You are dismissed, both of you. Return to the lines." 

Lord Thomas gave Ken a bewildered look. He had thought the Scottish queen knew nothing of battles and would look away at first best chance. Obviously she was sharper than he had believed. 

He locked gazes with his head guard and shook his head at him. They had known each other long enough to read each other's eyes. 

The next hours passed by without much fuss. As Yuniko had wanted it, none of her soldiers could match the ability of the Irish ones. Then again, her middle class guards lasted for about fifteen to thirty minutes each. Now she knew the strength and reach of abilities of the Irish soldiers, and they were lower than she had expected. But when the captain of Lord Thomas's soldiers stepped forward the queen stopped Hermes, who was moving forward to meet his opponent. "Adam, step in for Hermes," the queen ordered. 

The head guard of the Scottish soldiers bowed in agreement and moved forward. Rikel, the Irish captain, was a muscular man with black eyes and dark skin. Adam, with his stern face, silvery hair and lithe body, looked very kind compared to his opponent's cruel appearance. 

Thomas turned to the queen. "This far your guards have failed to impress me, my beloved," he said silkily. Malin took a deep breath to not claw at his face in anger. 

"As have yours on me," the queen said calmly. "But I shall keep my observations to myself, for the good of everyone." 

Thomas almost growled under his breath. Why did his men not succeed in impressing the queen? He had heard she was innocent. But this far he had only gotten the image of her being stone-hearted. 

The queen waved her hand as a sign to the fighters to begin. 

Adam was not surprised or taken off-guard by Rikel's instant attack. He had rather awaited it. From watching the Irish soldiers fight he had figured out his entire strategy. After all, they had all learnt from this man. 

Yuniko watched with satisfaction how Adam blocked every move and swing of Rikel's all too long sword. Adam's 3 feet 5 inches blade allowed faster swings and easier movements. He didn't attack, though Rikel's defense was wide open. He waited for his opponent to tire himself out, and for Yuniko's sign. 

Adam was only beginning to sweat when he heard the clear snap of the queen's fingers. He smirked at his much more outworked opponent, and with one single, powerful swing from underneath, sent Rikel's sword flying through the air. The crowd screamed and moved out of the way as the heavy blade came back down to earth and was buried deep in the dirt. Not that Rikel noticed. He was busy staring up along the blade of Adam's, who had knocked him to the ground the moment he lost focus when his weapon was hit out of his tired hands. 

The Scottish crowd cheered loudly. 

"Impressive, Adam," the queen praised with a proud smile. "Very impressive." 

Thomas was at a loss of words. Rikel had never lost a battle before. Not once in his life. How could this be possible? 

"You," the queen's voice ripped him from his shock. She was looking at her soldiers. "Go to Marie and let her treat your wounds. Take our Irish guests with you as well." Yuniko then turned to Joey, whispering quickly. "Watch Adam's back." 

Joey nodded, bowed and hurried after the newly announced champion of the battles. 

"Why did you not let him fight, my queen?" Lord Thomas asked with back held rage. 

Scotland's ruler gave him a look of innocence. "I can not have my bodyguard wounded in a friendly battle, now can I?" 

Malin mock-smirked at the Irish lord before she followed her queen back inside. 

* * *

"Your majesty?"

The queen turned to Kyoko, who was standing shyly looking at the hem of the queen's dress. "Yes?" 

"I… I just… are you… are you really going to m-marry that man?" 

It was noon the eighth day after the little tournament in the courtyard. Ryouko and Kyoko were kept busy with Marie, the one who had taken over after old Lisa. The elderly lady had returned to whence she came, wishing to spend the rest of her life where she had once lived with her late husband. Marie was a much sterner and stricter teacher than old Lisa had been, and therefore the two girls were not left alone as much as before. "The queen is always busy taking care of her kingdom," she said at least twice every day. "To disturb her is a crime punished with death, if I had a word in the matter that is." 

The queen had to admit she had never talked more than a few greeting phrases with Lisa's apprentice. But it couldn't be helped. 

But today Kyoko had slipped away from her teacher. She just had to talk to her half sister. 

"Come with me, Kyoko. I believe you wish to talk about it." 

The young brunette nodded and her blue eyes widened a little, in fear or worry Yuniko didn't know. Malin took Kyoko by the hand and smiled encouraging. 

Servants that passed them bowed their heads in respect for their queen and nodded kindly to Kyoko. Still no one knew the truth about Kyoko and Ryouko, or why they were allowed to dress in full length dresses. Yuniko believed it was the best for everyone, her sisters most of it. 

At the door to her room they met with a frowning Mokuba. 

"Are everything at place, Mokuba?" 

"Everything but his highness, Milady," Mokuba said, his frown deepening. "He is… I can not tell in the corridor, your majesty." 

"Very well, come in and let me hear about it." 

Mokuba nodded and followed the three girls inside. Malin locked and barricaded the door after them, just in case. 

"Now, my young ones," Yuniko said as she sat down in a comfortable chair. She locked eyes with Kyoko. "You were first." 

Kyoko nodded. "I… I am only worried. That man… he is causing nothing but trouble. He does nothing but give orders, plays with the servants to raise his own comfort and…" 

"And what?" Yuniko asked worriedly. 

"T-the… the m-maidens… he-he picks one… n-no one dares t-to say a word… he frights them… tell them… h-he says that… he w-will hu-hurt them…" 

Yuniko stood harshly, startling both of her young friends. 

"What is he doing?" Malin asked lowly, anger fuelling her system. Since she always was around the queen Malin did not know what was happening, and the other servants did not dare to tell her either. It was wide known Malin totally exposed herself for the queen. There were no secrets going on between them. 

Kyoko shook so violently she could not speak. 

"He is… forcing them down… into his… bed... Milady," Mokuba said quietly. 

Yuniko stood as petrified. Angry would be an understatement, rage would not come much closer to the truth, furious was perhaps the best way to describe her mood, but not even that was enough. Yuniko was purely, truthfully outraged in its full pronounced nature. 

Malin was not in any better state, but instead of staring at the two poor teenagers, she reached out for something, anything, and lunched it against the wall. It just happened to be a small bottle of perfume, and the liquid spread a heavy, somewhat relaxing smell of fairy roses. 

At least it made Yuniko calm enough to sit back down. "How many?" she asked, forcing herself to sound calm, though a thin sting of the anger she felt leaked into her voice anyway. 

Kyoko shook her head. "Three," she answered. "And… the next… he is aiming for." 

Malin went up to the violently shaking girl and lifted her head, making the terrified girl look into her compassionate eyes. "No one will hurt you for telling us. If anything, you will be protected and comforted," the nurse said softly. 

Kyoko had tears in her eyes. "He is aiming for Ryouko and me." 

Before Malin could react, Kyoko rushed straight into Yuniko's open arms. "Stop him. You must stop him, Yuniko." 

"Hush, little one," Yuniko said with the softest voice Kyoko had ever heard. "Nothing will hurt you. Nothing will hurt Ryouko. You do not need to be afraid. I will never stop protecting you." 

Kyoko cried loudly into her half-sister's arms for a long time, not noticing Mokuba and Malin embraced them from the sides. 

By the time Kyoko stopped crying she had fallen asleep. 

"She must have kept it bottled up inside ever since his arrival," Yuniko said as she caressed her little sister's hair where she lay in the queen's bed. Kyoko still had wet traces down her cheeks, but the frown was gone, replaced by the quiet face of sleep. 

"That man's arrival has caused nothing but trouble, Yuni. You know that too." 

Yuniko didn't look at her nurse. "I guess." 

"So why are you not doing anything?" 

"Because this is all connected to Ken," Yuni answered lowly. "I am waiting for _them_. And when they come I have pulled them all to the wall. No one wishes to have the throne of Scotland if they only know the truth. That is why I fight so hard to keep it." 

"But you have to do something about his ways with the maidens," Mokuba said quietly. 

"I know, and I will. But for that I need Ryouko's help. I need to be there without a specific reason. Mokuba, take this," the queen said and unhooked the pendant she had gotten from her brother on her sixteenth birthday, placing it in the errand boy's hands. "Most of my councilmen know how precious this is to me, why it is the perfect reason. Tell the council I need the day off, I give sir Honda full permission to lead the kingdom for one day, and make sure he writes a full and complete report to me about everything done and said during my time away." 

"Yes, ma'am. You can trust me." 

"I have never done anything else, little brother," Yuniko smiled. "Keep the pendant hidden on you just in case. If you see Ryouko on the way to the council, tell her to go to my room. When you have informed sir Honda and the council about the lost pendant you must spy on Ryouko for me. If she and Kyoko is the ones the lord is aiming for, and Kyoko is nowhere to be found, it is Ryouko who will catch his eyes. When you notice the lord is about to make his move, tell me instantly. Malin, will you be a part in this play as well?" 

"Your wish is my command, Milady," Malin smirked and bowed gracefully. 

* * *

"Sister Ryouko!"

The pale haired girl turned at the sound of the errand boy's voice. She was in search for Kyoko, afraid to know where she was. 

"Yes… Mokuba, right?" 

"Right. Milady wishes to talk to you." 

Ryouko looked down at her feet before she looked back up, nodding her head slightly. 

"By the way, have you seen sir Honda recently?" 

"Sir… no I have not." 

"Okay, then I knows where he is. You can find her majesty's room on your own, right? I think she is still there." 

Ryouko just nodded again. 

"Good. I will see you later." 

"Yes." 

Ryouko looked after Mokuba as he ran down the corridor with light steps, his feet knowing every stone in the castle. She felt afraid to go to her half-sister's room. They had not talked since that monster had arrived. 

"Little Ryouko, there you are," she suddenly heard Malin's voice. "Her majesty is looking for you. I believe she needs your help as well." 

"As well?" Ryouko asked surprised. 

"Yes, her majesty has dropped something of high personal value. And of all people she knows in this castle, she will only entrust this little mission to those she really trust. But you have to ask her for yourself what she is looking for. I am not supposed to spread the queen's secrets in a corridor filled with curious eyes and ears. Please go and see her now. She is really worried and need as much help as we can give right now." 

Ryouko, the worrying kind as she was, nodded and set off towards the queen's room. Inwardly Malin prayed God to forgive her lying. 'It is for a good reason,' she thought. 

Ryouko knocked on the hard wood that was the entrance of the queen's chambers. She heard ruffles of cloths before she heard her half-sister's allowance to enter. 

"Your majesty, Malin asked me to…" 

Ryouko stopped right there. She had never even imagined the princess… the queen, to look like this. Yuniko's hair and cloths were completely disorganized and covered with dust. She made half-hearted tries to dust herself off, but she still looked like she had been crawling on the floor for some time. She didn't see Kyoko since Yuniko had made sure to keep Ryouko's back to the bed where the young brunette slept. 

"Y-your majesty…" 

"I-I am sorry, Ryouko. I have lost something… please close the door." 

The pale-haired girl was ripped out of her shock and closed her mouth before she registered the older girl's words and obeyed. 

"Have you seen this?" Yuniko asked as soon as the door was closed and locked. She held up the empty chain in front of Ryouko's eyes. The younger one narrowed her eyes. 

"That… oh, that golden pendant is gone?" 

"I got it from my brother right before he died. It has a picture of him and me inside it. He told me to always wear it, so that he would always be near, even if he was far away." 

Ryouko immediately felt pity for the queen. She may be the ruler of Scotland, but even she had at least one thing she valued as dearly as the kingdom itself. "I will help you look. When was the last time you remember having it?" 

Yuniko thought about it. Lies were a completely new experience for her, and she didn't know if she would be able to tell one straight into Ryouko's face without giving herself away. She already felt guilty to make her little sister an oblivious part of her plan. "I… I never take it off… but I have been looking under the bed and all around the room, so I must have dropped it somewhere else in the castle." That was at least mostly true. The only lie was that she knew she had never dropped it. 

"Then where have you been today?" Ryouko pressed on. 

Yuniko put her thumb to her lips, concentrating. Not having the pendant's light weight was actually making her uneasy for real. "In the small dining room for breakfast, and then I had the morning meeting… I was down in the training hall, checking over the soldiers' training. Everyone is as good as ever. Adam really is the best trainer in Scotland. But… I remember still having it when I left. You know, I train down there myself a little, and I felt it hit my collarbones quite a few times, so I know I had it when I was there. Then was… Lilana took my measures for the wedding dress, and last I was in a meeting with the council and my advisors, this one too to prepare for the wedding." 

"You have not eaten dinner yet?" 

"I realized it was gone as I was on my way," Yuniko said quietly, looking anywhere but at Ryouko. 

"Then it must be somewhere between the training hall, Lilana's sewing room and the meeting room," Ryouko said calmly. "Do not worry. I will find that pendant for you. Before sunset you will have it hanging around your neck again, your majesty." 

Yuniko sighed and smiled brightly. "Thank you, Ryouko. You are an angel." 

With a bright blush on her face Ryouko curtsied and rushed out of the room, ready to keep her promise. 

"Do not hate me, Ryouko," Yuni whispered. "But if you know, he will notice it as well, and I will be forced to abdicate, leaving the throne free for Thomas to succeed. And that is a price I can not afford to pay." 

* * *

Thomas saw the beautiful youth walk slightly bent forward spying on the ground. It was no use confronting her in the middle of the corridor where he knew for sure the queen must have one or two spies. She couldn't be so trusting as to leave her palace completely exposed for anyone living inside the walls. Therefore he settled down in watching the girl's back as she seemed to search for something.

"Little Ryouko!" 

The lord quickly withdrew into the shadows as the queen's nurse approached. 

"What is it, miss Malin? Have you found it?" 

"No. I was hoping you had. But I have been away from her majesty for quite some time now, and I am getting worried for her. I will go see her right away to see if she is fine. She must be on the edge of losing it by now." 

"I understand. I will keep searching." 

Malin smiled thankfully and nodded. "Thank you. I really owe you one," she said and rushed off. 'Please God, forgive us,' the nurse prayed as she ran towards the queen's chambers. She felt really guilty for lying and using Ryouko like this. 

As Malin's steps echoed out into nothingness Ryouko restarted her searching. The meeting room was just around the corner now, and that was the last place she had to look in before she had carefully gone through all the way from the training hall, to Lilana's sewing room and through the corridor towards the meeting room. But before she rounded the corner she heard a pair of very light, but fast, feet rush off from somewhere. Confused, the pale-haired girl looked around the corner. When she saw nothing, she shrugged it off as her imagination. 

Thomas saw the girl enter the meeting room. It should be empty by this hour, since the evening meetings was always held in the dining room. He smirked to himself in victory. 

The lord was silent as he entered the room, only to see the girl standing on all four with her back to him. She was looking under the queen's chair. She jumped when he closed the door with a soft _bang_. 

"Good evening, young one," the lord said silkily. 

Ryouko was quickly on her feet, ready to confront this lame excuse for a monster in disguise. "What do you want?" she asked straight on, very rudely. 

"You are a young flower. As such you can not speak to me in that tone," Thomas said and took a leisure step forward. Ryouko backed away from him. 

"To you I can talk in any tone I wish. Do not believe I am an empty-headed little… whore, like the ones back where you belong. You are only here for the Scottish throne." 

"Hard words," Thomas said silkily, not letting her words get to him. She was a woman, and he was a man. And a man is way higher in Gods creation than a woman. She was created out of the man, and was bound to obey his every move. He kept walking towards her with slow steps. "Too bad the queen is not in the position to tell me such things." 

"Just you wait. She will uncover you one of these days. And when she does you will be out on your ass before you have the time to think what happened. And when you are out there, alone in the darkness, _they_ will take you. Just like they took…" 

"The king?" the lord asked, very uninterested. She could cast hard words and insults at him. He already had her where he wanted her. Ryouko didn't answer. 

"Do you even know who they are?" she asked, her voice not as steady now when he was so close. He had backed her up in a corner. 

"No," the lord said floatingly. "And for your information, I do not care. When I become king of this country, I will lead it into war. I will take over England and Wales, then Ireland. These two islands will be my playground where everything I want will happen, where I will have everything I lay my eyes at." 

"What are you going to do with the pr… with the queen?" 

Thomas chuckled, playing with the girl as a cat with the mouse. He could as well tell her of his plans. It wasn't like she would ever tell on him. He would see to that. A young girl was easy to scare. 

"She is only a woman," he said as he put his hands on each side of Ryouko's head. "Once I have taught her where she is supposed to stand, she will follow my every wish with heart and soul. I guess she will be good with bearing children, with that curvy body of hers. She is nothing but a simple woman. Those are supposed to be the servants of the man." 

"I suppose the word 'independent' does not exist in your vocabulary." 

Thomas jumped away from Ryouko, who stared at the queen who stood calmly in the door, dressed in a white (or was it blue?) dress with bright blue sleeves and a midnight blue ribbon at the back. She was as beautiful as ever. However, Malin, Mokuba and Joey, who stood right behind their queen, did not look very happy. To be honest, all of them looked like they wanted to strangle and kill the lord the worst way possible. 

"Y-your majesty," the Irish lord said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "What brings you…?" 

"You found it!" Ryouko said, pointing at the queen, before she realized how rude it was and withdrew her hand. 

"Mokuba found it a moment ago, in here. I guessed he had come before you since he said he had not met you. Therefore I thought you would be here to look for it, so I came to tell you it has returned to its place." 

"T-that is great," Ryouko said, less exited than she should have, had Thomas not done what he had a moment ago. She silently wondered where the queen had entered. 

"What I did not expect to find here, was you, your highness," the queen continued, looking at the lord with eyes that demanded him to explain himself. 

"Where in the conversation did you come in… your majesty?" the Irish man said, trying hard to keep his pose. 

"When little Ryouko asked what you were going to do with me after our marriage," Scotland's ruler said calmly, but Thomas's face paled. 

"I will kill you, right now, your _noble_…" 

Yuniko's hand on her bodyguard's stopped the blond from drawing his sword and go straight for the lord's head. 

"It is very interesting plans you have, Lord Thomas," she said calmly. "Too bad I must make you disappointed. Because… I actually have not told this anyone else before, alive that is, but Scotland needs me, in more ways than only a monarch. And once again I ask you to remember: the soldiers and servants in this castle are loyal towards _me_. Not you. I am not convinced they will share your picture of my place beneath your feet. And while I am still at the subject of loyalty, I will even tell you why it is this way." The queen stepped closer to her fiancé. "I have grown up in this castle. You are a foreigner. It actually is that simple." 

Malin walked up to Ryouko and took her hand, prepared to leave with the girl unharmed. 

"Besides," Joey spoke, warning clear in his voice. "You have forgotten about the animals. Or you simply have not noticed it yet." 

"The animals?" 

"There are many things you have not noticed when it comes to the ruler of Scotland," Mokuba spoke. Thomas looked like someone had insulted him deeply when the errand boy opened his mouth and spoke to him. "I will leave this kingdom forever are you able to defeat our queen." 

"Let us leave, my friends," the queen said calmly. She still stood as rooted on the spot only a few feet in front of Thomas. "But first, my dear fiancé, are you so needy you can not wait for the wedding night?" 

Thomas's eyes widened in shock. 

"Dearest, I am far from ignorant. I know more of what is going on within my own walls than you yourself know is going on inside your own skull. I suggest you to calm down and leave the maidens alone. Take this as a first step to gain my trust. Because if you do not gain it, you will be the only one, beside your son, who is left completely exposed without my protection. When the time comes I am sure you will know what I am talking about." 

Thomas was so angry he was shaking when the queen turned her back towards him and was about to leave. But as the queen of Scotland reached the door she seemed to be hit by another thought. She turned back to her fiancé. 

"En garde, my dear." 


	23. The saint of Scotland

Hey everybody (or at least the one reader I know I have)

I don't have much to say today (more than that I'm going down for. I'm getting ill) My birthday is coming up this Monday. Hurray for me. But I won't tell you my age, it's a little sensitive (and no, I'm not some old grandma if that's what you thought!)

Whatever. On with the fic and don't forget to review when you're done reading.

* * *

**The saint of Scotland**

Bakura slept worriedly that night. He tossed and turned as his mind was trapped in dreams he could not make out. There were monsters everywhere. Wherever he turned there were another picture of grotesque beings, killed humans, burning villages… it went on for what seemed to be an eternity. But suddenly there was a light in this world of sins and evil. It was soft, but so clear and pure it burnt his eyes. And suddenly the vision cleared.

"_Impressive," he said as he walked up to her, a young girl with long, curly black and blue hair. Her dress had dirty spots here and there from where she had been hit with stones from the ghouls she had just fought off._

"_Unicorn," the girl said without turning her eyes from the earth towards the horse that stood at her side. "Go home."_

"_Why let her go?" he asked her. "It will take you some time to get back now." He wasn't sure of where this girl belonged, but the fact she had been riding there was clear enough her home was not very close to here._

"_I figured you would take me back freely," the woman said and turned. He realized how close to her he stood. The blue eyes were crystalline and sharp. They held no sort of fear or pain. Her face had a bruise on her cheek and forehead, and for some reason it made him furious. She was shorter than him, almost a full head. But still she had a very nice body and clean skin._

"_Who are you?" the girl asked as she let her sword slide back into the sheath. "I have seen you three times and still I do not know your name."_

_Bakura wondered what she was talking about. He had never seen her before… or maybe he had. That one time when Yami had showed him that drawing. "You wish to know my simple name?" he asked and took another step forwards, she didn't move away. When he reached out to touch her face she didn't flinch. "My name is Aku," he whispered._

_Aku? That wasn't his name. His name was Bakura. So why did he answer her question with a lie. He was sure she could see right through it._

"_Evil," the woman answered._

"_Yes," he whispered. He caught himself caressing her face down to her neck. He wanted to pull his hand back, but the soft skin made him relax after the images he had seen previously. But he tried to not move the hand any lower. "That is what it means by some foreign language. I am surprised you know of it. But you… why are you not afraid of me. You seemed to be afraid of Crow."_

_Crow? Who the hell was that? This girl, the Battle Princess, was afraid of birds?_

"_I am not afraid," the princess said calmly. "I simply can not like the one eyed one for anything in the world. He only desires what he himself can have from me."_

_Bakura didn't know what to think anymore. One eyed one? A man with one eye named Crow? The words that came out of his mouth sounded like he was the one who knew this Crow guy._

"_But I… what if I am just the same as him. We are the same kind after all."_

_The same… kind? Bakura tried to look down at himself, wanting to make sure he was human. The Battle Princess was very clearly human. Was he not?_

_The Battle Princess's eyes looked deeply into his, capturing him in their bottomless depths. "I know when I should be afraid. But you are no danger to me."_

_Bakura was surprised by her answer. Whenever would he be dangerous for anyone? He had never hurt… well, no one who had not made any harm to him or Ryou, but that was another story. _

"_Maybe you are right," he whispered and leaned closer to her face. "I have no such desire. If I want something from you… it is only you."_

_Bakura didn't know what happened. The princess's eyes brought him down. He could not stop himself. She closed her eyes when he lent in and… _

Bakura sat up straight in his bed, face burning red from embarrassment.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my freaking fucking God," he rambled over and over again, unable to stop himself from shaking.

The white-haired man fell out of bed and walked to the kitchen to make himself a cup of really hot coffee.

"No, not coffee," he decided. "Something sweet. Something with much sugar… chocolate."

He didn't know why he suddenly needed something sweet. However the sweet drink calmed him down visibly.

"I haven't gotten a hug for a while," he realized as he lay with his head on the table. "Ryou, you better wake up soon so that I can take care of you again."

He looked at the clock that ticked away on the wall. 3:24 in the morning. "Damn it all to hell," he muttered to himself. "I might as well start reading that bloody book."

* * *

Jono lay silently still in his bed, but under his eyelids the eyes were stirring around in panic.

_There they stood. The priest, the groom, and the guests. Everyone had gathered here to witness the wedding of the Irish lord Thomas and the queen of Scotland. He did not know why, but the mare thought of this… man, to marry the queen was breaking his heart in million pieces. There was nothing he wished for more in that moment, but to rush out of the church, leave the country and never again turn around._

_But why did his heart arch so at the thought of the queen's wedding. It took some time for him to realize, but when the realization of why he was against the wedding was the reason for it; Lord Thomas only desired the throne._

_He closed his eyes to stop the bitter tears from falling. At his side stood the young errand boy, holding his hand tightly, and at the errand boy's side stood a girl with the same hard face as he had himself. She did not wish for the queen to marry either. _

_But the organist never started to play. Neither did the priest look very happy about his mission to bind the queen and lord together as husband and wife. Yet the queen entered the church…_

The rest of the dream was a blur. When Jono woke up he was covered in sweat and panting hard. He couldn't remember the end of the dream, but it had been very important, and it had scared him to no end.

The blond fell out of bed with a loud dump, waking his mother in the process.

"Katsuya, how are you? What happened?"

Jono looked up at his mother. He didn't realize he was shaking terribly before he started to speak. "I-I-I dreamt. A-a dre-eam. S-s-sh-she…"

His mother kneeled in front of him and took her son's hands into her own. "Darling, it was only a nightmare. It is alright. Nothing will hurt you, or it will have to deal with your mother." The last she said with a smile, hoping she could make her son smile a little.

"But she's dying," Jono said weakly, tears forming in his eyes. "T-the princess is dying. She is going to die. They will kill her. That man will only hurt her. She is dying."

His mother embraced him and rocked him back and forth, trying to calm him. Jono cried until he fell asleep again.

"What happened?"

The woman who was Jono's mother looked up to see her husband stand in the doorway. "He must have had a terrible nightmare," she said sadly. "He kept talking about the dying princess."

"Again? I thought he got over those nightmares years ago."

The woman looked down at her sleeping son. "I thought so too. But it seems the princess who hunted his dreams as a child have come back to torment him again."

The man sighed sadly. It was a long time since the last time his son had been having nightmares about a princess. Both of them had asked Jono to explain his dreams for them. He had explained that all he could remember was a kind hand, a thankful smile, before she turned around and disappeared. But he did not know who the princess was or what she looked like.

"The only thing we can do for him is to be there when he needs us," Jono's father said quietly. "We can not force that princess out of his mind. I only hope he will figure out who the girl is and why she is dying. That way she should leave him alone."

"I hope you are right."

* * *

Honda wasn't freed from dreams either. He was crying in his sleep and mumbled incoherent words. His father, who had been a light sleeper ever since Honda was born, woke up and went to see what was wrong.

"Hiroto. Hiroto, wake up."

_He was watching everything from a window in the hall. He could even hear the princess's desperate cries for everyone to get inside. _

_("They are here! Everyone get into the castle! No exceptions! Run!")_

_His heart was in his throat as he saw the shadows lowering over the courtyard. There were five of them, one bigger than the rest. He could see them, but the ones on the ground could obviously not._

_He noticed someone rush against the stream of fleeing humans towards the princess. At her call he realized it was Malin._

_("Go back inside,") the princess yelled at her._

_He saw one of the guards be taken into the air. But the princess was faster. He saw how she jumped high in the air and managed to grab the guard's leg and pull him out of the vampire's claws._

"_Come back inside alive, princess," he whispered to himself as he ran towards the entrance, only to find it filled with people. He ran back up to see what was happening outside. He was suddenly blinded by a strong flash of light. When his vision cleared he saw the princess leaving the ground in the claws of a vampire._

"_No! Release her!" he yelled and hit the glass with his fists in frustration. What would happen to the kingdom was the princess to die?_

_Tears of helplessness steamed down his cheeks. Then he heard the princess scream._

_He lifted his head to see her falling from high above. Another vampire tried to catch her, but screamed as in pain when it failed. It, along with the princess hit the ground heavily._

"_Your majesty!" he yelled, hitting the glass once again._

_Another guard, this one with clear, blond hair, rushed to the princess's aid. But then it came down again. The biggest vampire._

"**YOUR MAJESTY!"**

"Hiroto!"

Honda looked up into the eyes of his father.

"Calm down. It was a nightmare," the older Honda said lowly.

Releasing a breath he didn't know he had been holding, Honda fell back on his pillow.

"Now tell me what you were dreaming of. You haven't been having nightmares since your mother passed away."

"I have no idea," Honda said, still panting and trying to dry his eyes. "I saw flying creatures from a window, and people trying to get inside, away from those monsters. She was almost taken away, but that monster dropped her and she landed heavily in the snow. Then it came down for her again… and…"

"Hiroto?"

"It took the king away. She is alone now."

The older Honda had no clue of what his son was talking about, his words made no sense.

"It will be okay. When you wake up tomorrow you will not remember this dream. Go back to sleep now."

Hiroto only nodded, turned and fell asleep out of exhaustion.

* * *

A terrified scream filled the house of Kaiba. Yukino jumped out of bed, looking around for the source. When she realized it was her son she wasted no time in dressing in a robe, but ran straight to Mokuba's room.

"Mokuba, darling. What is it? What happened?"

"She's gone. The princess is gone," Mokuba cried.

Yukino sat at his side and held her youngest son close. "Hush, hush, my boy. Everything is alright. You only had a nightmare. You will see. When you wake up tomorrow morning you will be fine again."

"B-but… she was hurting. She was hurting so much. And then he raised his sword and killed her. She is gone."

Yukino had been a mother for seventeen years. Seto also used to have a lot of nightmares in young days. Therefore she knew exactly how to calm her son down. She started to sing slowly.

_Tell me what has happened_

_Why is the sun not shining?_

_And why is the moon and stars not joining us tonight?_

_But the light of an angel_

_Is lighting up our dark lives_

_Darkness can not hide it_

_She is shining even now_

_--_

_Let this nightmare end soon_

_My angel, keep us all safe_

_Free the people from what has tormented them so long_

_Give us hope forever_

_Light up the path we're walking_

_Let no darkness hurt us_

_Holy saint of mankind_

_--_

_Sun will shine tomorrow_

_Moon comes out from its hideout_

_Stars are twinkling down at us who followed her to here_

_The saint, bearer of Hope_

_Angel of the earth's glow_

_Always will I love her, she who leads me even now_

Mokuba fell asleep during his mother's song. Falling right back into the open arms of a smiling angel.

* * *

_There she stood with her army, waiting for them in front of the monuments of the ones killed in this war. How he hated her. How he hated the queen of the kingdom that should have been his. How dared she?_

_Her face, the most precious treasure of the kingdom. The most holy of God's saints. The reason of his pain._

"_So, Battle Princess. Are you ready to give up your kingdom to me?" he yelled at her from his place in the front of his army._

"_You know I can not leave the throne to you, brother," she called back. "The kingdom needs me."_

"_It was mine to begin with!"_

"_You have chosen the wrong way, brother. Please, do not do this."_

_How dared she? She was the reason for his pain. She was the reason he was like this. She was the one he had sacrificed everything for. And she, in return, fought against him. She should have placed the kingdom at his feet had he bid her. But he knew. He knew this her loyalty towards God and the people was her greatest weakness._

"_You are weak, Battle Princess," he spat. "Too weak to guide this land. I will take back what is mine, even if I have to take it by force!"_

_He drew his sword and started forwards, and behind him, his army of hungry monsters did the same._

_Her holy sword, made by God's archangels to protect the people, gleamed white as she drew it and raised it towards the dark sky. Her army followed her example and a forest of swords pointed at the sky. Her war cry marked the beginning of the last battle._

Yami sat up straight in his bed, bathing in sweat and gasping for air.

"A nightmare," he breathed for himself, before the words of last night hit him again.

"_You're the one who killed her!"_

He felt sick. How was he going to live through his life when those words echoed through his mind all the time?

But this dream. He had felt such hatred towards her. He had felt… such despise. What was going on?

* * *

It was a quite early Sunday morning when the gang rang on the bell to Bakura's place.

"What the hell are you doing here this early?" a madder than usual Bakura-in-the-morning answered the door.

"To get this mystery over with already," Honda said in the same tone.

"Then get your fat asses inside and I will explain what I have figured out from the book."

Honda, Jono and Yami made their way inside and seated in the living room.

"Where's Anzu?" Jono asked after coming down to actually see who were there.

As on cue, the bell rang again.

"The door's open!" Bakura yelled.

"Are you dressed properly?" the girl asked once she opened the door.

Bakura suddenly snapped. **"GET YOUR ASS INSIDE RIGHT NOW!"**

The brunette came inside, dressed nicely in a pale pink, knee long skirt and white blouse. When she saw the guys she smiled teasingly. "You're not morning persons, I understand?"

Looking at each other the guys realized what she was talking about. None of them had brushed their hair or put much care in dressing. All of them looked like they had dressed while drunk.

"Just sit down so I can tell you what I have found out," Bakura sighed heavily while sitting down in his favourite armchair. He already had the book in hand. "This story starts about 1620 when the princess was eight years old. That was when the one who originally wrote this book arrived to the castle. The one who arrived was named Malin, the eight year old spy of her family of thieves. It was meant Malin would pretend to be the princess's friend to figure out where the treasure chamber was located. But the princess figured her out and Malin had to return to her family empty handed. Had the prince Atemu not been around at that moment Malin would have been killed by her family for failing her mission. Malin's family was beheaded for violence towards the heir of the throne and the princess took Malin in, and the thief started to work as the princess's nurse, taking care of all of her friend's personal needs."

"Well, now as well we know who this Malin girl was. A thief," Honda said when Bakura lifted his eyes from the book for a moment.

"We now also know the princess actually had a brother, which for some reason is denied in the history," Anzu stated.

"I am more curious of how the prince could have the same name as Yami's last name," Jono said.

"If Yugi is the reincarnation of the princess, then I might as well be a reincarnation of her brother. But I don't want to be compared with him. For I believe he grew to hate her when she became queen."

"But according to Ryouko's diary the prince was dead before…"

They all looked at each other. "The prince was a vampire?" Anzu voiced.

"I have not read the entire book yet, so I can not tell," Bakura said and returned to the book in his hands. "Malin early knew the princess had a hand with animals. The horses greeted her happily every time the young princess went out. Dogs and cats protected her from strangers and suspicious travellers. And above the towers of the castle flew the king of heaven, the Guardian, keeping his sharp eyes out for anything that could harm the treasure of Scotland."

"The king of heaven?" Jono asked.

"Don't you know?" Anzu asked a little surprised. "The king of heaven is another name for a golden eagle."

"Golden eagle?" Honda asked. "You mean one of those was guarding the princess too?"

"Obviously," Yami said.

"As the princess grew up she also early started to train with her brother and the soldiers," Bakura continued. "She also indirectly ruled Scotland through her father every now and then. But everything was not fun and games. The princess's ability to use any weapon as if born with them in hand was due to her fate. Throughout her life she would be dependant on the sword."

Bakura stopped, thinking back at his dream. She had been fighting off the grotesque things on her own, with her own light.

"A princess with a sword?" Honda thought out loud. He had actually never thought of anything like that seriously. Royalty was supposed to be protected, not protect. Especially not the women.

"Well, I guess it is the reason she is called Battle Princess," Anzu said as a matter of fact.

"I haven't read this part through yet," Bakura spoke up as he flipped the pages to where he was. "But 1625 the king of France arrived with his two daughters, Mai Valentine and Tea von Lily."

"And we more or less know how that story ended," Honda said. "The prince proposed to Tea, but before the wedding the prince died and Tea returned to France."

"And the prince… started to hate his sister," Yami mumbled.

The others stared at him, not knowing what he meant, or if he talked to them at all, or simply to himself.

"Now what information are you sitting on?" Bakura asked rudely, not caring how the other would react. But what happened wasn't really what he had awaited. Yami tensed for a moment and looked up at him, before looking down at his hands.

"I… Yugi is the reincarnation of the Battle Princess. And I… am the prince. Tonight I dreamt of a battle. It was my army… against hers. But all I could feel towards her… was hatred."

"Do you hate Yugi?" Bakura asked tonelessly.

"Of cause not!" Yami burst out and stood. "Yugi is everything to me. He's my little brother. Of cause I love him. I…"

"Then why are you sitting here pitying yourself because you hate him?" Bakura's words were hard, but they hit where they were meant to. "You're really pathetic."

The silence that lowered over the gang could have been cut with a knife had anyone cared to try. The one who finally broke it was Honda.

"I… I had a strange dream tonight too," he said lowly, but his voice seemed to echo in the silent room. "I stood inside, helplessly watching what was happening outside. There were snow on the ground and the air was cold. I could see shadows in the air, and then I heard her… the princess, scream for everyone outside to get into the castle. She was caught once, but it dropped her and she landed quite heavily on the ground. The vampire came down for her again… then I woke up, realizing it was nothing but a dream. But right now I wonder if it really was."

The silence was over them once again, everyone taking Honda's words in.

"When I was a kid…" It was Jono's voice that spoke this time. "I know I used to have nightmares about the princess. I can't remember any of them clearly. All I can say for sure is that I always wake up with a feeling of complete hopelessness, and the sensation that something that I am leaning against, a presence, is never going to be there anymore. She gives me a grateful smile before she turns her back to me… and disappears." He was silent for a moment, thinking of the dream he had tonight. "When I grew older the dreams stopped, faded away, and I did everything I could to forget they had ever been there. But last night she returned. I know that what happened is important, but I just can't remember."

"But the princess was much stronger than we can imagine," Bakura suddenly said, finally breaking the silence completely, gaining his friends' attention. "She fought off an army of ghouls on her own, with only light and a sword as weapons. I know… because I saw it in my dreams tonight."

"But…" Yami started slowly. "If you also are having dreams… then it must mean you too have an earlier life with the princess."

Everyone stared at each other, as if searching for something they didn't know.

"But I haven't dreamt anything tonight," Anzu said. "And we… more or less, know that I am the reincarnation of the prince's fiancée."

"There is something strange with all this," Bakura said, crewing at his thumb. "All of us, almost, are having dreams about the princess. Ryou, Yugi and the others are, after what we have guessed, reliving an earlier life. Why aren't we?"

"Maybe there is something for us to find here that can help your brothers, Seto and Malik to come back to this life?" Jono suggested. "You can't live your life in the past."

"That's something you should say to someone who doesn't want to grow up further," Honda stated.

"You know what I meant."

"When does the store open?" Anzu asked out of nowhere.

"About… 10'o clock," Bakura said looking at his watch. "That's in one and a half hour."

"Then I think it's best to collect what all of us have to some kind of summary. I have a feeling Dr. Lou would be a great help here if we could get to see him later today. I am sure he will believe us."

"Stop, go back a little," Jono suddenly stopped her rambling. "What do you want us to summary? I thought we already got everything down."

"Then I can tell you we haven't," Anzu stated with businesslike voice. "All of us have made up our own picture of the Battle Princess and the story. I believe it's best if we somehow manage to get these our pictures down on paper. Whatever we are supposed to uncover, we can not do it each one on our own. If we want to find the entire truth, we have to work together."

They boys looked at her. "For some reason I hate to say it," Bakura started. "But I believe Anzu is completely right about that one."

* * *

"Here you go," Yosei said and handed Bakura the translation of the poem. "It is as good as I can manage, but as always with a translation, it can not exactly mirror the original. Have you read through the book yet?"

The white-haired teenager shook his head in denial. "I have come to where the princesses of France arrive. But I really think I need to read it through myself and not have a summary," he hurried to say when the dark twin opened her mouth to summary the story.

"Oh, fine then. If you want to sit in here and work you can use the table over there. It is a little cleaner than the rest. If you need any help, don't hesitate to call for any of us. Grandma Karin will be here shortly, and Hoshi had to run some errands, so you probably won't see much of her."

"Thanks, I think we will just sit down and get through with this riddle," Jono said, already moving towards the table, seemingly prepared for them.

Bakura handed the papers to Yami. "It's your turn to read," he stated.

"Does it matter who does it?" Yami asked, but took the papers anyway.

"Yes. It feels like I have been the one doing it until now, and I'm sick of it."

"Fine with me," Yami said with a shrug of his shoulders. The gang sat down on the chairs and Yami eyed through the text. "Well, at least it seems more coherent than yesterday."

"Just read and leave your statements till after you're done," Bakura muttered.

"Be quiet yourself then," Yami mumbled and started to read before the white-haired teen could talk back.

_In those times of fear and pain_

_Broken is the sealing chain_

_The Battle Princess is reborn_

_To protect the world as sworn_

_--_

_The gained will be lost_

_Must victory at any cost_

_Stripped of beauty_

_The lord is filled with fury_

_--_

_In a place without belief_

_Painful bonds are tied without mischief_

_Trust is torn_

_And love too worn_

_--_

_The darkest night with sorrow will fill_

_The heart of light the darkness thrill_

_I seek a word both now and then_

_It is shining through the dark den_

_--_

_Again I want this feeling_

_For it the Lord is kneeling_

_What is the opposite of sorrow?_

_It can save the light of tomorrow_

_--_

_This clue is the only I can give_

_Before you in the battle your last days live_

_May the light never leave you be_

_For then you give in to eternity_

_--_

_Something the dark lord wants to hide?_

_Your love, your home, your pride?_

_Hiding in her heart is a star_

_The blinding darkness is far_

_--_

_I leave you now with only this _

_The rest you must find on your own, little miss_

_The Star in her is the word I seek _

_For in Light even Darkness retreat_

The gang was silent for a long time, before something clicked in Jono's head.

"'Little miss'?"

"As I said; it's a translation I have done, and therefore it's not exact," Yosei said from behind Bakura. "The actual phrase was 'my dear', but it didn't suit since everything rhyme. You can't even imagine how hard I worked to make everything rhyme."

"I couldn't rhyme if I tried," Jono said. "So I believe you had a hard time with it. Now, what can we make out of this?" He turned to Anzu.

"Well…" she started, biting her thumb. "I suppose this lord it talks about must be Dracula or something. Wherever he lived with the rest of his monsters, I am sure it would be a place without belief, trust or love. The heart of light is the Battle Princess's; I am positive all of us agree to that. But then I'm stuck. The last four phrases are talking about something important, and are giving clues to what it is, but I can't figure out what."

"Well, lets see which clues are given," Bakura said, talking the papers from Yami and eyed through them. "Here, it says it is a feeling, something Dracula didn't like. It can obviously be compared, or somehow linked, with a star, since here it says 'the Star in her is the word I seek'."

"And the night retreat from the light of day," Jono said, making everyone stare at him. "What?"

"That must be the smartest thing I have ever heard from you," Bakura said.

"I will just pretend I didn't hear that," Jono muttered.

"Vampires hates sunlight," Honda said and snapped his fingers. "The word we seek is 'sun'."

"Close, but not close enough to hit the target," Yami said. "The sun isn't a feeling."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot about that."

"But the princess was shining," Bakura said, gaining everyone's surprised stares.

"What do you know about that?" Yami asked suspiciously.

"I told you I dreamt about her too, didn't I"

"Yes, but you said she fought off the vampires with light, not that she was actually shining."

"Must you take everything so literally?"

"When it comes to you, yes."

"No fighting in here!" Yosei called from the other side of the store.

The two archenemies took deep breaths. "Fine," they said in union.

"What did you dream about?"

To everyone's big surprise, Bakura blushed all the way to his hair roots. "I-I think… the princess may have had a lover," he mumbled, looking anywhere but at his friends.

"Where did that include the subject?" Jono asked. "Well, I know she got married, but…"

"She what?" Yami stood and glared at poor Jono.

"Um. She… she married some guy, Lord Tom or something… I think."

"How do you know about that?"

Jono gulped and tried to back further away from Yami's piercing eyes. They had taken a crimson hint in the violet depths. "I dreamt it."

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Anzu asked annoyed.

"B-because I can't remember further than that she entered the church," Jono defended himself.

"Are you talking about the queen's false wedding?"

The group turned to Yosei, who was cleaning up the table next to theirs.

"False wedding?" Honda asked. "How can a wedding be false?"

Yosei put some books into place before she started to talk again. "In order to protect Scotland, the Battle Princess needed the throne. She was engaged with an Irish lord, some Lord Thomas or something. But like all God's saints, the queen never married."

"Hold it," Bakura suddenly stopped her. "What do you mean 'saint'?"

"Oh? You don't know. The Battle Princess is Scotland's patron saint. The domestic people celebrate her memory every year with plays and food. They believe that she is still there, watching over them forever. And when there is a trouble in the country, they pray to her to help them solve it. It is said to work with personal troubles as well."

Silence rested over the gang after the dark twin's revealing.

"So…" Jono started.

"The Battle Princess we are searching for…"

"Is a saint," Anzu ended Honda's sentence.

Bakura and Yami looked at each other, both knowing what the other thought. If the Battle Princess was a saint… then what was Yugi?


	24. The moment of Truth

Now, here I seem to be again, recovering from a cold (Damn, I've been mad at it the entire week) Now I have decided to not fall ill for at least six months (nods stubbornly).

A lot is going to happen in this chapter, and many things may clear at the same time. This is the "Moment of Truth" after all (smirks).

If you have complains or comments about anything, write them down and send them to me.

* * *

**The moment Truth**

_May 5, 1630_

_The day for the princess's birthday is closing in, and so is the day of doom. _

_That man. He disgusts me to no end. The princess is becoming colder and colder for every day that pass. She always looks annoyed, always tense and has this wrinkle between her eyes. Yet she is not harsh to anyone. She still talks with calmness and with a voice that so clearly tells she is more than clear in her mind. Towards me and Kyoko she is gentler than ever. But I fear that for every day that passes, another piece of her heart is broken._

_The princess never refuses to answer me when I ask, and she always smiles towards me when she does. She tells me not to worry about her. She tells me she will not leave. And she tells me that everything will be fine. I so dearly wish I could believe her, but it is because of her smile I can not bring myself to it. The princess wants to believe everything will be fine again. She wants to believe there is no need to worry. But for every day that passes, that tiny hope is gliding away and slowly out of reach. Her smile tells me everything. Because when she __smiles, her lip is trembling ever so slightly, making her smile sad and scared._

_God help us. If the queen betrays her kingdom, what will happen to the people? What will happen to her?_

_God help us._

Yuniko was called to the throne room that noon, May 6. Dressed in a magnificent purple and blue dress with gold embroidery that, much to the council's displeasure, left her sun kissed shoulders bare. But whatever was said about the queen, no one could deny her beauty and dignity.

"Lennart Martinsson, son of the Martin clan, wishes to see her majesty with a very important issue, according to him."

"What is this issue, Sir Hermes?" the queen asked calmly.

"Martinsson refuses to tell anybody but her majesty," Hermes said and bowed deeply again.

A sting of worry hit the queen's heart. She had felt the vampires around the barrier last night. "Call him to me and let him talk," she said slowly.

Hermes bowed and left for the room where guests were told to wait for the queen's arrival. The one who followed him back was a very young man, not many years older than the queen. Yuniko felt rather than saw Malin raise an eyebrow. The man was dressed in his clan's colours, with a medallion of bronze around his neck as a sign he was important to the clan. His skin was nicely tanned and his body was a little underfed, yet his strawberry blond hair was glossy and clearly healthy. This wasn't what caught Malin's, or Yuniko's, attention though. It was the fact that his face was bright red.

"Tell me why you seek me, Lennart Martinsson," the queen asked gently.

The man bowed deeply and clumsily. "I-I, it is a pleasure for me to meet you in person, your m-majesty. I-I… my reason f-for seeking you…" he swallowed soundly.

"Has something happened that is worrying you enough to seek my advice, or protection?" the queen asked, her voice still gentle and understanding.

"Yes!" the man almost yelled enthusiastically, rising from his bow and almost looked into the queen's face, when he suddenly remembered who he was talking to and bowed again. "I-I mean; yes. Yes, something is really troubling me, and my entire clan. I am sure it troubles your entire people."

Yuniko felt her stomach sink. "Then tell me, what is this issue worrying you and my people?" she asked.

Seemingly, the man could not hold himself back anymore. He dropped all formality, looked up into the queen's eyes and burst out: "ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO MARRY?!"

The throne room was very silent after the falsetto yell. Everyone was staring at the poor young man standing, blushing all way to his hair roots, staring at the surprised queen.

"Your majesty, let me…"

Hermes couldn't say anymore, because slowly, little by little, the queen started to laugh. It rang through the silent room like the spring birds' singing. The air lightened, the room felt warmer, and it felt like a darkness that had been resting over the queen ever since the Irish lord Thomas's arrival disappeared. Her entire being seemed much brighter than when she entered the throne room.

But Martinsson was more embarrassed than before he came. The queen was laughing at him. Of cause, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, but it was directed at his stupidity. He looked down in shame.

When Yuniko finally calmed down she stood from her throne. "I understand why you sought my help," she said kindly, a warm smile lightening up her features. "You are afraid I will abandon Scotland for my fiance, am I right?"

Martinsson could only nod, not daring to look up from the floor. He heard a quiet whisper above him and stole a glance upwards, catching a glimpse of one of the prettiest women he had ever seen standing beside the queen, but he quickly looked down again.

"There is not much I know about the future," the queen suddenly spoke up again as she started to walk down the flight of stairs. "But one thing I can promise you, Lennart Martinsson." Yuniko lifted the young man's face to look at her. "I will never abandon my kingdom for anything in the world."

Martinsson blushed even deeper. The queen's face was so close to his. She really was a stunning beauty. The statuette in his village wasn't fair to her. But she soon let go of his face and turned to the pretty, blonde woman standing by her side.

"Malin, please lead our honourable guest outside. Hermes, please call Mokuba to me."

The two bowed/curtsied before they turned to obey.

"Come with me," the girl Malin said with a kind smile. She led him to the door at the end of the throne room and towards the exit. Whispers followed in their tracks, making Martinsson even more embarrassed. He had really managed to make a complete fool out of himself.

"I must thank you," Malin suddenly said.

Martinsson said the first intelligent word coming to him. "Huh?"

"It was so long since I heard the queen laugh like that. I have not even seen her smile so happily since the king's, since the _prince's_ death even. She has been suffering so much lately. So I must thank you, for bringing a smile back to her face."

"Not only Miss Malin is grateful," a voice said from behind them. When they turned they were met by a young teenager with black hair and big, grey eyes. "The entire castle is whispering that an angel sent from God has brought a smile back to the queen's face. That angel is you, sir."

Martinsson didn't know what to say. "So… the queen… was not… laughing at me?"

"Milady would never laugh at anyone," Malin said. "She laughed because she was relieved. All this time she has thought that she is alone. Milady does not want anyone to bear the burden of the kingdom with her. You have reminded her that just as her majesty supports the kingdom, the people of Scotland are holding her back in return. I can not even guess how relived she is now."

"Our queen told me she has been stupid," the black haired teenager said. "Stupid to ever think she was alone. Now, she wishes for you to accept this, as a sign of the queen's gratitude."

"Mokuba, is that…?"

Martinsson looked at the pearl the young boy held out to him. From Malin's outburst he could tell it was something very rare and valuable. The pearl was clear with a beautiful crimson colour. It sparkled in the sunlight as clear as the queen's crystalline eyes.

"This is a treasure given a few," the boy Mokuba said. "It is given your entire clan, not only to you. If you are ever in trouble, or threatened to your lives, this can save you all. It will protect you from anything. Because now you are under the queen's personal protection."

Martinsson knew this gift was something extraordinary. He took the small, crimson pearl in his hands and bowed his head for the teenager.

"Thank you again, for coming with our beloved queen's smile," the boy said before he rushed off.

Martinsson looked after him before Malin gently nudged him towards the gate. "Could you please do me a favour, Angel?" the blonde woman asked quietly. Martinsson blushed at her choice of title for him.

"Of cause, anything."

"Do not brag about being under the pearl's protection."

"Why not?"

Malin was smiling, but her eyes were so sad it almost pierced Martinsson's soul. "Because then someone else may try to steal it, which is not possible. This pearl has been given to you and your family. If anyone else tries to touch it, they can be badly harmed. The queen does not wish for anyone in her kingdom to be hurt because of her. What it is meant to protect you against is not other humans, but from the Devil."

Martinsson nodded in understanding.

"Live well!" Malin called after him as he left through the gates.

When he was through the great wall, Martinsson was surprised to see the guards bowing deeply in respect for him. With the pearl, a drop of the queen's blood, clutched tightly in his grasp, Martinsson ran all the way home.

* * *

Yuniko stood in a window, watching as Martinsson left. She felt so light, as if she had lost all weight and floated far over the floor.

"You look happy, beloved," a very familiar voice said. But not even Thomas could blow her mood today.

"I am happy into my very soul, my dear," the queen asked with a smile. It was actually the first time she smiled at her fiancé.

"Would you care to tell me the reason?" the Irish lord asked, very suspicious.

Yuniko giggled shortly to herself. "Because the moment of truth is closing in rather quickly. And when it comes, there will be nothing left for you in Scotland."

* * *

Lord Thomas called Ken to his chamber that night.

"I am somehow worried," the Irish lord confessed.

"Of what?" Ken asked carefully. "I confess the queen can be very direct and quick-witted. But still she is only a woman. There is nothing else with her but her royal blood, which is giving her a great amount of power. But that is also all there is to her."

"She told me something strange today," Thomas said lowly. "She told me the moment of truth is closing in, and that when it comes, there will be nothing left for me in Scotland. What does that mean?"

Ken was highly surprised. The queen couldn't see into the future. But then he started thinking clearly. The queen knew that if she married Thomas she would have to step down from her place on the king's throne to sit by his side, watching as he led the kingdom instead of her. He already knew that if you had power, you would do anything to keep it.

"I believe there is nothing to worry about, sire," Ken said calmly. "The queen is only trying to scare you somehow, though I confess her ways of doing so are a little strange. She is Scotland's most powerful woman, and she simply does not wish to let go of that power."

"Are you sure? She was smiling when she said it. It was the first time she smiled at me."

"Not to worry, sire," Ken said, sure that he was right. "There was a boy here earlier that made the queen laugh. It is easy to entertain her if you only place your feet right. That foolish smile will last until the wedding, which is closing in rather quickly now."

"The wedding?" Thomas asked, as if it was news to him.

"Are you sure you are all right, sire?" Ken asked with raised eyebrows. "This is why you came here in the first place."

"Y-yes, of cause I know. But… the way you said it… it was almost exactly what the queen said to me earlier."

"Forgive me my ignorance, but why sounding so worried about it? It is the day when the entire Scotland will be placed at your feet."

The Irish lord sat down and looked into space. "Could it be…? Is there another name used for a wedding? Maybe that was what she was talking about."

"How can it be? There is no other name for a wedding that I know of. You and the queen are going to be bound together in the presence of God. There is nothing anybody can do to stop that. The queen herself has agreed to marry you."

Thomas only nodded, slowly, before he dismissed Ken.

"Sleep well, my king-to-be," Ken said right before he closed the door.

* * *

May 30. The end of the month and the beginning of the summer. It should be a day of ease and activity on the fields. Well, the fields were taken care of, but the air resting over the people were nothing like the ease there used to be. Because it was now only five days left for the queen's wedding.

The guests started coming from here and there. Governor Duke was the first one to arrive to the castle.

"Your majesty?"

The queen turned to the young man, flashing him a brilliant smile. "Governor Duke, it is always a pleasure to be in your presence," she said.

Those were words the governor didn't hear very often, at least not without sarcasm. His appearance often had quite the opposite effect. His black hair could be described as curly, but at a closer look, the hair looked more like black flashes that made their way down his back. His skin had a soft caramel tan and he was long and lean. But what scared most people when the governor appeared were his face. His eyes were evergreen, greener than Scotland's green fields. At least the left one was. In younger days he had been slashed by a thief trying to rob him outside the fortress he lived in. It had made him blind on the right eye, the cut causing the colour to fade so it was almost white. And the scar that was left was black.

"As is it my pleasure to be able to bath in your light, your majesty," he said and bowed. "I merely wish to speak with your majesty, alone, if your majesty forgives me to be so straightforward with it."

Yuniko gave another kind smile. Duke was as loyal as a dog, in lack of a better word. Of all Scotland's governors, he was the one she liked the best. She turned to Malin. "Could you please tell Chef Solomon to make us a snack and take it to my chamber?"

"Anything, Milady," Malin curtsied before she left, curtsying once for the governor.

"Please come with me, governor Duke," the queen said and turned into the other direction.

As they reached the chamber, Joey caught up with them. "Malin told me," was all he said. Yuniko nodded at him before she opened the door and invited Duke inside.

For being a queen, her room was very cheaply furnished. A huge bed in the end of the room, a smaller one for Malin in a corner, an oak desk, a quite big dresser, a make-up table, a full-size mirror standing beside it, an open fireplace, and a few comfortable looking chairs. The floor was dressed in white with Scotland's shield on it; a red cross with the thorn wreath of Christ behind it.

"Please sit down and tell me the reason of the deep wrinkle between your eyes," Yuniko said, smiling kindly as she sat down in her favourite chair.

"Nothing is hidden from your gaze, is it, your majesty?"

"Not when it comes to my people," Yuniko said.

Duke sat down heavily in the chair beside the queen. "I must say… I am concerned about you, your majesty," he confessed. "Since… since you took over the throne, Scotland has lived the best of her days. Most of the noblemen I have talked to since your majesty's coronation are satisfied with you. The clans are, most of them, living their lives in peace, doing their business on their own and there have been minimal conflicts between rivalling clans in my district."

Duke was quiet for some time, enough for Yuniko to give him a piece of her mind. "I am very glad to hear that. I would be heartbroken if Scotland ever started to fight within herself. My goal as a monarch is to keep Scotland safe from threats both from outside and inside of her. But it is not to tell me this you sought me today. These news are not a reason for you to worry. Or are you one of those who wish this land into chaos?"

"Of cause not, your majesty!" Duke burst out and stood. "Never even think that of me. Not of _me_…"

"It was not my intention to anger you, governor," Yuniko said calmly and smiled warmly. "But you are good at avoiding the subject. The time will not extend only because we need more of it for this moment. As I hope you remember I am the queen, and as such I am sought by many, not only you."

"My apologizes, your majesty," Duke said anguished.

"No, because I am the one who should apologize. I was questioning your loyalty. And for that I am sorry."

Duke smiled slightly and sat back down. "My concern is not Scotland in her precious condition, but what she is heading to. My concern is your fiancé's worthiness of sitting on your majesty's throne. Forgive my choice of words, but that Irish pig could never even start to compare with her majesty's dignity. His place is in the same pit as the dirty dogs wandering the streets, eating rats to survive."

"Enough," the queen cut off harshly.

"Forgive me."

"You should aim your apologies to the pigs, dogs and rats you have just insulted."

Duke just stared at the queen, not quite grasping what she had just said. However, his face must have been a funny sight, because Yuniko let out a wholehearted, bell-like laugh.

"My apologizes, governor Duke. But you and I share our picture of my fiancé. Therefore I find it insulting to my friends, the animals, to compare him to them."

Duke was still at a loss of words. Whatever the reaction he had awaited from the queen was most certainly not the one he had gained.

"Enter," Yuniko suddenly called, turning Duke's eyes towards the door. He hadn't realized there had been a knock.

"You ordered a snack, Milady," Malin said.

"If I remember correctly, I _asked _you to bring a snack," Yuniko smiled. Ever since Martinsson's visit, her mood had been light-years brighter.

"Different words for the same thing, Milady. I would have brought Milady a snack no matter what words she would cared to use."

Yuniko laughed again. "I suppose you are right. Governor Duke, if there were more you wished to speak with me about, I hope it is not so serious it can not wait until after we have finished the tea. Now, let us enjoy this our lovely time together."

"And Chef Solomon sends his greetings to Milady as well," Malin said.

"It was a long time since I saw him. I suppose it is about time I pay him a visit, if only for his food's sake."

"Governor Duke, if you do not close your mouth anytime soon, I am sure a bird will mistake the hole for something else and build a nest in it," Malin teased the still shocked Duke. He snapped out of his shocked state and picked up his jaw from the floor.

'But if you marry…' he thought silently to himself. 'You can not imagine how many hearts you will send into misery, my queen.'

* * *

"Your majesty," Lilana breathed in complete aw. "Your majesty, had I not been a woman, I would fall down to my knees right here and beg you to stand as my bride."

"You only say so because it is the dress you really wish to marry," Malin said with venom.

"Miss Malin!" Lilana burst out, her face highly red.

"But…" Kyoko started timidly. "I think I agree with Ms Lilana. Milady, you are as beautiful as Scotland herself."

"Why, _that _really was a compliment worthy of the queen," Joey said, not being able to take his eyes off the sight in front of him; Yuniko in all her wondrous glory dressed in a wedding attire that would have made Elizabeth I envious.

The material hugged her shapes tightly down to her hips. Her shoulders were, for once, covered with a cream coloured silk scarf, hiding the pendant she always wore, the last gift of her brother. The sleeves were long and so wide they almost touched the floor, with a very pale picture of Scotland's shield on them. Roses made of red velvet served as a decorating belt resting on her rounded hips. The full length skirt was very carefully decorated with pale pink, yellow and white flower embroidery, forming sunflowers for wisdom, daffodils for summer, and water-lilies for innocence. Lilana had really put down all her heart in this dress.

Yuniko smiled to her friends. "It is lucky the wedding is tomorrow evening," she said. "It would take all night for me to get ready had it been in the middle of the day."

"Yes," Malin mumbled. Yuniko almost looked like she was looking forward to be married, something that didn't pass anybody by. But they all tried to hide their sinking hearts. "As it is now, I have plenty of time to do your hair, Milady. I will do my very best."

"I know you will. Scotland will see me at my very best tomorrow." 'Along with many others with their fates bound to mine,' she added silently in her mind.

Though Yuniko was quiet about it, she had felt the presence of at least three vampires since midnight. And they still hadn't left. They were walking around the castle like any other, which unnerved her greatly. Yet, she hoped they wouldn't do anything before she could blow their cover.

There was a knocking on the door.

"Enter," the queen answered almost automatically.

"Your majesty, I…"

Honda stopped halfway into the sentence and stared at the queen with open mouth.

"Yes?"

"What? I am sorry, Yu-your majesty. For a moment I thought… I mean; you look wonderful."

Yuniko laughed and playfully swirled around, letting her friend from the council admire her a little, but not for too long. Honda was still a man, even if he was more of an uncle for her. She didn't need him to prise her beauty right now.

"But I suppose it was not for admiring me in wedding suit you sought me, sir Honda," she said calmly, acting like she didn't have a care in the world.

"N-no. No, I did not. My reason for… my reason is… um?"

"Come, sir. You can tell me in another room where her majesty is not present to distract you."

"And what is that supposed to mean, Joey?" Yuniko said with a pout, pretending to be hurt.

"Why do you ask when you already know the answer, Milady?" the bodyguard asked back with raised eyebrows.

"Touché," Yuniko laughed. "Now get out so I can change back into my normal cloths," she told them.

The two men abandoned the room for another one down the corridor. Once in safety of Honda's study, the council man sat down heavily in his chair, hiding his face in his hands.

"Sir?"

"When I saw her… all I could think of was to what we are giving her hand. Still… I can not help but wonder… How do you think the king would react if he saw his daughter like this? A happy, carefree soon-to-be bride to a… a… monster?"

Joey, without realizing it, let his own pain and worry show. "I can not tell," he said lowly. "She is acting like a little girl, always smiling, always bright and loving. I can not tell if she is only acting to give us some peace in mind, or if she has… accepted the bridegroom, just like that."

Honda shook his head, almost in despair. "I refuse to believe it is like that. Our queen is wiser than that. She would rather poison herself than risk the throne to fall into the hands of that man. I… I refuse to believe she has… given in."

Silence filled the room, only disturbed by the soft droplets of rain that started to fall on the window. Joey was the first to break it.

"Why did you seek the queen now?"

Honda looked up from his hands, but his eyes were empty as he stared into nothing. "I wanted to ask her why. Why she accepted his offer in the first place. Why she has not done anything yet. Why she gave Ken a second chance when she knew he would betray her again. Why everything that happens… Why she can not find any peace in mind." A lonely tear made its way down the councilman's cheek. "I wish… that the queen was young again. I wish the king was still here, that prince Atemu never died, that the old queen was back. There is so much I wish never happened. But no matter how hard I fight against it, things happen that hurts our queen, breaking her apart until nothing is left. I can no longer pretend I am sleeping well during the nights."

Joey looked out the window. The rain out there was pouring harder by the minute. As if Heaven itself cried for what was about to happen. "Have you wondered… or even noticed?" the soldier asked quietly. Honda focused his gaze on him, urging him to continue. "The queen… has been very quiet lately," Joey continued. "Like… she never talks about the future. Until today I have never heard her mention the wedding other than when answering questions about it. She never… You remember the man who was here last month?"

"Lennart Martinsson?"

"Yes. He asked the queen if she would really get married… but she never answered. The only thing she said was that she would never abandon Scotland."

"That is the only hope I still can hold onto," Honda said quietly. "Hope is the only thing I can do. The rest is up to Yuni."

* * *

"Joey, there you are."

"Huh?"

Joey looked up into Yuniko's concerned blue eyes. He had been walking around aimlessly the latest hours, grieving, trying his hardest to make time stop, or at least go slower. He might as well try to reach the sun from the bottom of the sea.

"Are you all right, Joey? You look very far away."

"No… no, I am fine. No need to worry."

"I do anyway," his friend answered. "I have a free moment now. Please come and talk to me."

"Milady?" Malin spoke up.

"Malin, could you please look after the young girls for a moment. I believe Joey and I must talk in private."

"Of cause, Milady," the nurse curtsied and left without another word. She would never refuse Yuniko her privacy.

"Let us go to my room, and you can tell me what sir Honda sought me for. I have not been able to find him since you left with him."

"No, he only… no… never mind."

Yuniko gave him a look of pure concern. Joey was really not acting like his normal self. But as long as they were in the corridor she would not pry anything out of him. She took lead towards her chambers and locked the door behind them.

"Please, Joey. You must tell me how you feel," she pleaded quietly.

"How I feel? You want to know how I feel? Then let me tell you. I am furious, confused and completely in despair! First of all you promised to stand as my bride I do not know how long ago, and then you suddenly give your own hand to somebody else right under my nose! I felt like you betrayed me. But… for a moment, for some time, I believed you had a good reason to accept his offer, that you somehow were given no other choice. And today… today you look like tomorrow will be the happiest day in your life! I no longer know what to do, how to feel. Every day you break another piece of my heart. Mokuba is crying himself to sleep, Honda can not sleep at all anymore. I know Malin is keeping herself in check only because you are always near her, but I can tell her heart is sinking and how she seems sick whenever you are speaking to that man or his Godforsaken son. And it is not only us. The entire castle is feeling the same. And you know why? Because tomorrow you are giving away yourself and Scotland freely."

Yuniko slowly sat down in a chair. By any means she didn't look surprised, she wasn't even hurt. But when she looked up in the young man's eyes, her eyes were sad.

"Do you not know me well enough by now?" she asked, just as quietly as before. "Do you seriously think I am giving away Scotland freely?"

"That is what everybody think, Yuni. You yourself are giving everyone that picture."

"But do you believe it?"

Joey looked away, his features reflecting his pain. "I do not know," he answered truthfully. "I do not want to believe it. I refuse to… but every time I see you smile… I doubt it. You are not talking to anybody anymore. Malin, the one closest to your heart, knows nothing of what is going on behind your eyes. How can you expect us to trust you when you smile like you do?"

A quiet sigh escaped Yuniko's lips as she searched for the right words. "Tomorrow, everything will change, for good and bad. By now I am positive you know I am a terrible liar, why I instead am silent. I have never lied to you or my people. I was true when I kissed you. But Lord Thomas… is not of my people. It is to him, if to anyone, I have lied. I know I can not ask for your trust, yet I wish you can put some faith in me, Joey. Everything I have been hiding from my kingdom will be revealed tomorrow night."

Joey said nothing. He heard in her voice an undertone of fear. But what was she afraid of? "Yuni… what do you think the king would say, did he see you at that man's side?"

Yuniko smiled in amusement. "It is because of my father's absence my fiancé is here. Does that answer your question?"

The soldier managed a small smile. "I suppose. Good night… Yuni."

Yuniko stood and kissed her friend's cheek lightly. "Good night Joey. I love you."

* * *

It was midnight when Yuniko suddenly woke up. There were no sounds reaching her through the deep darkness surrounding her, no breath of air skating across her skin. Still she knew what had disturbed her sleep. She sat up in bed.

"Who are you?" she asked fearlessly.

There was a silence, in which she got out of bed, prepared for anything.

"By now, you should know who I am," a dark, emotionless voice said from the darkness of her room.

"Crow."

A pale ray of moonlight seeped into her chamber, falling on the vampire sitting as black hole in front of her. Only his lonely, green eye, grey hair and skin broke the black that ruled in him. "It has been a long time, love. I must say I was shocked when the news about your marriage reached the fortress."

"Is that why so many of you are here? To witness my wedding?"

"You noticed us? You are sharper than I expected. Yes, we have come to witness your wedding. Because the moment you say 'I do'… I am positive you know what that means."

"I know exactly what will happen if I step down from my place upon the throne. The knowledge is breaking me apart."

Crow's only eye glared at her. "Do you seriously think any of us will stand and watch when you give everything to a nobody? I am surprised Atemu did not suck him dry the other night when he paid that human a visit. He is furious with you, with himself, because he is not here to protect you."

"No one can protect me," Yuniko said, voice soft, but the words were as sharp as a newly sharpened dragger. "Human or vampire, no one can protect me. Those who try are swept away with the wind. I have seen it too many times already."

Crow gave her a devilish grin, showing off his sharp fangs. "And you will until the end of your life, love. Because the mortals hold you dear, they will try to protect you with their very lives. And they are not the only ones. The animals are on your side as well. How many lives can your conscience take before you decide to join them?"

Yuniko frowned. She knew he was right. Everyone who had died had because of her. But she tried, tried to protect them. That was the only way she could think of to stop this constant flow of deaths.

"You forgot one who is on my side as well, Crow," she said steadily. She would never let this creature bring her to her knees.

"Hô? And who would that be, beloved?"

The silver cross around Yuniko's neck suddenly shone through her cloths, its holy light hurting the vampire's entire being. "God."

Desperate to get away from the light, Crow broke through the window, alarming the guard outside.

"Your majesty! What happened?"

Yuniko walked up to the broken window, letting the clear night air wash over her like a wave. "It seems like they are preparing to make their move," she said calmly.

Sky suddenly came down and landed in the now open window, looking up at his mistress in question.

"Tomorrow will be very interesting indeed," she told the eagle, scratching his neck.

* * *

The high priest waited with Lord Thomas at the altar for the queen. The strict priest was relieved that there was coming a king to the throne, that he could not deny. But the high priest was a patriot, and as such he was not overly happy about the Irish lord standing as the queen's groom. She may be a woman ruling Scotland, and no one could deny she had not kept her promise of keeping Scotland safe and calm, but even the high priest doubted she was a complete fool. The high priest had hoped for one of the Scottish lords or earls to stand as her groom, not one of the Irish ones.

The church was filled to the brim with people waiting for the bride's arrival. The air was tense and somewhat anxious. There were jealous noblemen, earls and lords with their wives and sons, stiff soldiers, the council, and other, important people. The servants and locals were collected outside the church, behind lines of soldiers.

Malin sat with Ryouko, Kyoko, Honda and the council. Her face was empty and her eyes brimmed red. She had not been able to sleep, no matter how much she had tried to cry the comforting darkness over her. Kyoko fisted her skit so hard her knuckles had turned white and Ryouko held her cold hand over her little sister's. The white-haired girl looked almost sick with her sheet white face. Honda's face was like carved from stone, and his wasn't the only one. The entire council, minus Ken, was stiff. Joey, who stood on the queen's side of the altar, could as well have been a statue.

The organ started to play and everyone stood. The door opened and the bride started walking the path towards the altar, drawing a unison gasp of adoration from every man and woman with her appearance. Seeing the queen dressed up was an experience itself, to see her in wedding attire made some people want to swoon. Her face was hidden by a bridal veil so thin her eyes shone though the material, and she stared straight at the groom.

Thomas licked his lips. Soon, very soon, Scotland would be placed at his feet, and this woman would be chained to his bed.

The head priest, though happy the queen's shoulders were covered, frowned as he opened the bible.

Everything went smoothly forwards as the sun slowly set beyond the horizon. Then it came, the one moment of confession, the moment of truth.

"Now I ask you, Thomas IV Gabriel of the Lion clan. Do you, in witness of God and this audience, give your word to stay true to this Yuniko I of Scotland, and love her until death do you part?"

"I do," Thomas said clearly. He could taste victory on his tongue now, and so did Ken.

"Now I ask you, Yuniko I of Scotland. Can you, in witness of God and this audience, give your word to stay true to this Thomas IV Gabriel of the Lion clan, and love him until death do you part?"

A grave silence ruled in the church as everyone held their breaths, waiting for the queen's response, just as the sun disappeared.

"No."

The church became even quieter, everyone staring with wide eyes at the queen, quite not grasping that simple, single word. Thomas was the first one to find his words again.

"Excuse me?"

The queen removed the bridal veil from her face, staring straight and emotionlessly into the groom's face. "You heard me, Lord Thomas. No. I simply can not give my word to love you until the end of my days."

Finally the queen's words hit in and the church was suddenly filled with noise. Some women fainted, the lord's son started to cry from relief, soldiers got down to their knees as they started to breath again. Malin, along with Honda, slumped down into their seats, their relief so great all power left them.

"Thank you, Holy Father," Honda thanked his God, a tear escaping his eye. Malin and Ryouko started to cry loudly and Kyoko had swooned.

"YOU PLANNED THIS FROM THE BEGINNING!" Thomas suddenly roared over the noise, silencing most of it.

"If I had I would have turned you down when you asked for my hand," Yuniko answered calmly. "No, I did not plan this from the very beginning. This is simply what I have to do in order to protect my kingdom."

Silence lowered over the church once again as the queen stepped up beside the still mute head priest. "Heed my words. The one sitting upon the throne of Scotland is the one who must protect the kingdom, and the entire earth with it. Outside the lines of my kingdom there is a great evil waiting for me to step down and allow it to swallow the entire earth. I and Scotland is the only thing preventing this from happening. If I step down from my place upon the throne there will be nothing standing in evil's way and then earth will soon forget the feeling of peace and security as the earth's people slave in the Devil's shadow." She turned to Thomas, lowering her voice. "You still wish to have the throne of Scotland?"

A memory sneaked up on the mute Irish lord. A pair of glowing blue eyes, claws reaching out for him, a mouth opening to reveal the gate to Hell. "You are LYING!" he roared in denial.

"Not at all," said another, strangely humming voice. "The Battle Princess is simply doing everything in her might to protect her people."

The head priest suddenly found his voice again. "Scot?"

Thomas turned around only to be met by an ash grey hand with sharp nails, cold as death, gripping his throat. "Long time no see, my old friend," Scot greeted the head priest with a fanged grin.

Screams were heard from the seats closest to the altar as another of their kind suddenly grabbed Thomas's son and the rest of the Irish visitors.

"We are not staying for very long, your majesty," Scot said, bowing for the queen. "We are only here to pick up your enemies. You have my word they are not coming back from the other side of the grave."

"Do you understand me now, Thomas," the queen said softly, her eyes very sad. "Without my protection there is nothing standing in their way to get to you. I was never able to save any of you."

"Let us take leave," Scot said, dragging a cocking, and fighting Thomas with him in his claws.

As the vampires swiftly moved towards the exit, Yuniko suddenly lifted her skirt and rushed after them. Maybe, maybe she could save them anyway. She could not just sit still as humans were being killed right in front of her eyes. She had seen that too many times already, and she didn't want to see it again.

Through the church, into the porch and almost out the gate. But before she could exit the church cold hands gripped her, stopping her from chasing the monsters further. A soft voice whispered in her ear from behind.

"I am proud of you, daughter. Very proud."

Yuniko suddenly flew out the church's gate. For a second she could only hear the frightened cries of the people outside, she saw them try to get away from the sight of the horrifying creatures, carrying limp bodies of humans.

"NO!" she cried, releasing a wave of light that pushed the vampires away, but to her desperation they didn't let go of their victims. But the people saw her, and drew closer to her, seeking her protection. Yuniko noticed, and immediately calmed down. She was not alone, she had to remember that. Scotland's entire people pushed her back, giving her strength. She was the people's mother, the one who protected them from all. She let her light gently wash over them.

"There is no need to fear, my people," the shining queen said calmly. "I will not let those monsters touch any of you."

"Long live the Queen!" somebody called, and soon the entire mass of people joined in. "LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! **LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!**"

With a warm smile, Yuniko sent out a huge wave of pure light that washed over the people, the land, and the entire kingdom. The humans saw it, and followed the wave with their eyes as it suddenly rose into the sky, creating a golden shield between them and everything that could possibly harm them.

With a sigh Yuniko relaxed and let her light fade, that was when it happened. Cold arms suddenly grabbed her and lifted her into the sky. With a yelp she threw her arms around a familiar neck.

"Do not fear. I will not hurt you."

"Aku?"

Yuniko suddenly noticed that she was totally and completely worn out and exhausted. The world spun in front of her eyes and her body slowly fell limp.

"Stupid," Aku whispered to her fainted form. "Using so much power to protect both the people and the kingdom. Of cause you would faint."

The golden eagle Sky flew in a circle around them, before he decided to only guard his mistress for now. If Yuniko fell from this height she would die.

_No hurting mistress,_ he warned the vampire though.

_Never, _Aku answered truthfully.

* * *

"**YUNIKO!" **Malin and Joey yelled after their disappearing queen.

"Give her back, you devil!" Malin yelled as she tried to run after the flying being.

"Malin, take Unicorn!" Joey yelled as he freed the two white mares from the carriage which Yuniko had arrived with. Ryouko, with surprising speed, somehow managed to get on the white mare behind Malin. "I will come with you," was all she said, and that with finality.

The people who had all seen the shadow sweep their queen away, also started to follow the vampire, but Malin, Ryouko and Joey was far ahead on their fleeing horses.

"It can not hurt her," Malin whispered to herself, keeping her eyes on the shadow in the sky. "Yuni's blood is poisonous for evil."

To all three the queen's friends' surprise the vampire aimed for the castle and the queen's room. They exchanged a puzzled glance.

* * *

Aku flew through the broken window, careful to not let the sharp glass make contact with the woman in his arms. He couldn't tell if the room was cold or not, but he couldn't stay here for too long either. He decided to only place her on the bed without covering her.

A ray of moonlight suddenly fell through the window, casting its pale silver light on the queen's being. Had Aku had a heartbeat, it would have stopped at the sight. He had seen her as the princess like this, but suddenly, only months later, she had changed. Her face wasn't as pained or shielded as it had been that night in Mars. Right now it was so peaceful he almost feared she was dead, though he could still hear the calm and safe beating of her heart. She was lean, but still healthy with rosy cheeks and sun kissed skin. Her entire being breathed an air of calmness, security and peace… still, she looked so breakable, so helpless where she slept, chest rising and falling with her steady breathing. To think that this peaceful human was the world's most powerful woman was hard to believe had you witnessed her in that very moment.

Cries and yells were heard from the courtyard, and the vampire knew his time at the sleeping Yuniko's side was soon over. He leant over her form, whispering.

"The war is coming to an end. There is no escape. Not for you. Not for us." He watched her peaceful face as if waiting for her response. "We can not escape," he breathed. "In the end, there will be no winner. Because you must victory. Because we must fail. Because there is no other way."

Running feet were heard down the corridor, aiming for the room he was located in. Aku would have sighed had his lungs remembered how to do it. Ignoring the humans coming to put up a living shield between him and the queen, Aku leant down the last inch between Yuniko's lips and his own, kissing her softly.

The door, unlocked as it was, was almost hit off its hinges as the bodies were thrown into the wood. The three in the lead landed in an awkward heap right behind the vampire. Aku just lifted his head and looked at the newcomers over his shoulder. One of them he recognized as Malin, Yuniko's nurse. The other two wasn't as familiar to him, nor did it matter. He had gotten what he came for.

"You Devil! Leave Yuniko alone!"

The white-haired vampire calmly moved over to the window, almost as if he was levitating, and spread his wings, when suddenly an arrow passed and made a cut in his cheek.

Surprised but unable to stop himself in his move Aku took flight into the air. The one who had shoot that arrow stepped up into the window and aimed at him again. She was young, only in her middle teenage, with waist-long, white hair and clear, brown eyes at the moment filled with anger.

'Grandmother?' Aku thought to himself. That couldn't be possible. His grandmother was dead since long ago, she died right in front of his eyes and he had buried her himself. Yet those eyes… it was no doubt they were his grandmother's eyes.

* * *

Ryouko was about to fire her arrow away when she suddenly lost her balance.

"Ryouko!" Joey called out and tried to grab her as she fell. Just then the white-haired girl realized how high above the ground she was. Never in her life had Ryouko been so scared. The bow slipped from her hands as nothing but empty space was all around her while the ground approached fast enough to kill her.

'Yuniko!' she called silently and closed her eyes tightly.

But when the ground finally reached her, it wasn't as hard as she had believed it to be. It didn't even hurt to land.

Opening her eyes to see what had happened she realized that she had never hit the ground. In front of her face she saw the profile of a man with white hair and sharp fangs. The vampire had caught her!

"No! Release me immediately!" she cried.

"We are too high above the ground for that," his deep voice informed her, never once looking at her.

Looking down Ryouko saw the roof of the castle. Mostly subconsciously she threw her arms around the vampire's neck.

'No! I do not want to die. Not yet. I must stay with Kyoko. Mother…'

"Here, you can let go now."

Surprised she opened her eyes again and realized he had landed in an open window in the west tower. Sky was there also, sitting with spread wings on the vampire's shoulder with open break, prepared to protect her. Slowly she let go of the vampire's neck as he let her down on the floor.

"W-why? I thought…"

"I feed last night," he said softly, looking at her as if searching for something.

"Last night? But…?"

"We only feed once a month, twice depending on the hunger. But since we are as many as we are it may seem we feed every night. Besides, had I tried to feed on you I would be burnt to ashes thanks to the Battle Princess's blood around your neck."

Ryouko wasn't sure she should relax, yet she could see no kind of hunger in the monster's eyes. If anything, she could see sorrow, and maybe pain. "W-what were you doing to Yuniko?" she asked bluntly.

The vampire grinned, but his eyes betrayed his pain. "You think only the living can love?" he asked lowly. "I love the Battle Princess… more than anything. Even if I know I can only love her from a distance."

Ryouko looked at the vampire from an entirely new view. It had never hit her that these monsters knew of such a human thing as emotion. It made them seem more human, less monstrous.

"You really…" the vampire mumbled after some time, once again seemingly trying to find something in her eyes. "If I did not know better, I would…" He fell silent again, his eyes slowly widening. But then he suddenly turned his eyes over his shoulder, anger covering his features. Without another word he jumped out the window and flew away swiftly, leaving a very confused Ryouko behind.


	25. Circle

Hello all my lovely readers. It's finally summer XD. I hope you're all having as great a time as I have (my holday start in just a week).

And, as every summer, I'm taking a break. But this time it's only for a month. I'll be back to August.

So I really hope you'll appreciate this chapter and wait for me to update the next. It's really not a long chappie, but I'll make up to you with a long one next time.

See you all in August

* * *

**Circle**

"So… you believe young Atemu is a saint?" Dr Lou asked, seemingly not at all surprised.

"The dream they share must be the history written in this book," Bakura said, holding up the book. "I haven't read it through yet, but we believe all our answers are in here."

Lou looked at the picture on the frame. "She really is a beauty," he mumbled.

Anzu frowned in confusion. "Excuse me for saying it… but you don't seem very surprised by all this," she said.

Lou gave a nonchalant smile and sat down in a chair beside the window. "Not really. I guessed half of the truth the moment I saw young Atemu's face. It is princess Yuniko's face."

"You… know much about the princess?" Jono asked, his eyes leaving the annoying shining spot in the doc's chest.

"Of cause I do. I'm born in Scotland," the doc said with pride in his voice. "There is one Scottish clan, the most nationally known one, who is keeping a treasure given to their clan from the princess herself… our queen as she was at that moment. No one knows exactly what it is, but according to it's colour it is a ruby, not much bigger than a pearl."

"Have you seen it?"

"Once. I can not say I was old at that time, but I can still remember it."

"Hey!" Jono suddenly exclaimed, sounding somewhat insulted. "Why didn't you tell us this when we were here yesterday?"

"You never asked," Lou answered simply. "And I must say I wasn't 100 percent certain either. Your research has really helped me out a lot. Now that I know young Mr Atemu is the Battle Princess… I may also know why he is in this state."

"So you know the story?" Anzu asked eagerly.

"Is it true she was killed by her brother?"

Everyone looked at Yami, who was slightly unable to hide his distress.

Lou returned his gaze, his eyes unreadable. "No one knows," he answered lowly. "The told story that has been passed down for generations may have changed during the years. After all, it happened a long time ago. The told story comes from the people of Scotland who did not witness the princess's fate or life at all. It is completely build up after rumours and gossip. The Scottish people hold the Battle Princess sacred because of what happened the night of her wedding."

The doctor was silent for some time, seemingly deep in thought, before he continued with a voice veiled by something that could be nostalgia. "Dressed in white she exited the house of God to rescue the people from monsters covering the sky. Like an angel she shone and cleared the sky from evil, washing waves of light over the people, covering the darkening evening sky in gold. At church's doorstep stood God's most beloved daughter, a saint among humans, our beloved saviour…"

Anzu was somehow the only one who thought the story to be overly prising the Battle Princess. She couldn't stop herself from giving Yugi a doubtful look. "So practically, the Scottish publication thought of the princess as the new Messiah?"

Lou smiled bitterly. "And do you know how he ended?"

Anzu flinched, feeling slightly ashamed for her comment, and nodded.

"I am only telling you what the story says. When the Battle Princess died Scotland fell into chaos. Corrupted earls, greedy lords, turned down suitors, power-hungry clans… all of them at once reached for the throne and the kingdom. And with no monarch, most soldiers gone, killed in the last battle, and the castle's inhabits grieving the loss of their queen too much to be able to take back the control… those were Scotland's hardest, bitterest… and now forgotten times."

"Forgotten?" Honda asked lowly.

Lou closed his eyes, a troubled expression crossing his features. "The one who at last put Scotland at peace was the church, led by a young priest whose name is buried in time. The priest claimed the kingdom to be led by the church and then managed to put a king with strong authority on the throne, who of cause obeyed under the laws of the church. But… The Battle Princess had only been queen for less than a year. I can tell the church was not pleased with a lonely woman on the throne. The priests wanted a king. And after the chaos the pope decided it was the Battle Princess who had caused the chaos and choose to eliminate her. That is what the gossip says at least."

"But why is the story about the Battle Princess denied?" Bakura asked. "And even if she was only queen for a short time it shouldn't be enough to cause such chaos you're speaking of."

"Well, if you listen to gossip, and believe in it, the high priest of the Scottish church was a suitor of the queen's, but he was turned down. Some say even the pope wanted her to spend a night in his bed, but she refused. You know, the usual stuff."

"So it wasn't because she was a woman?" Honda asked.

"That is a possibility I suppose," Anzu said. "But then why is Elizabeth I well known in history? She was queen 100 years before the Battle Princess."

"So, what do you believe happened? We can sit here and guess for all eternity, but you know more of the story than we do, obviously."

Lou gave Jono a strange glance. "My guess is that she was nothing special. That rumours and gossip has gone overboard and made up a story about a saint raised in Scotland."

"Don't lie!" Everyone turned to Yami, whose expression was one of anger. "You're lying," he said, his voice hard. "History like this isn't wiped out and lied about, and they are certainly not forgotten. You stat that everything is gossip you don't believe in, but that's a lie as well. You believe in the story… even stronger than any of us."

Yami and Lou were unaware of it, but the rest could clearly see a bond that tied the two of them together. There was a silent battle for dominance going on between their gazes no one dared to interfere.

It seemed like Lou had lost the battle when he lowered his gaze, breaking the bond. "Maybe are you right… I can not tell you. What you want to know is if your brother will ever wake up, is it not?"

"That's right. That's why we're trying to find the truth. And I know you're sitting on it."

Lou sighed deeply. "May it be I know the history better than you… but you are digging in a tomb of someone whose heart is too deep to ever find the bottom, let alone a way back. So great is the depth of the Battle Princess's heart."

"Have you talked to her in person?" Bakura asked out of nowhere.

"She lived more than 400 years ago. Does that answer your question? Or do you believe me to be immortal?"

Bakura looked at him for a moment, before he shook his head in denial.

"This isn't leading anywhere," Jono said frustrated. "We haven't become any smarter of all this fighting. If it's not solving anything, you might as well put your fight aside. You are all forgetting what's most important right now."

Jono's scolding came by surprise to all of them… except for Lou, who hid his smile behind his hand. If only the blond knew what was going on inside the doctor's head.

"What's most important right now is finding out the truth… the rest we can take when it comes."

'You loved her this much, Joey? You haven't changed at all. Still… you are the one carrying the truth with you around your neck. As does all the ones who died with my daughter's blood still in their possession.'

Yami, knowing that Jono was right, lowered his head in defeat. "Okay… I'm sorry doc. I… don't know what came over me."

"Worry," Lou answered with a smile. "And love."

Smiling in understanding Yami went over to his younger brother's side, placing a hand Yugi's forehead.

_She turned around, surprise showing on her face. "Brother?"_

"_Come," he called. "Let us leave. Come home with me."_

_She turned around, looking at the majestic white castle towering over the kingdom like an eternal guardian. She hesitated for a long while before her head started to fall. "I wish that I could cry. Then maybe I would be able to laugh again." Her voice was low, almost as defeated. "I wish that I could go with you. With all my heart I wish I could."_

_When she faced him again her face was pained, __and she smiled sadly. "But this is my home, brother. I can not leave. Not for anything… or anyone. Not even you."_

"_Sister…" The pain in his chest grew stronger, a knot of fear in his stomach weighting him down._

"_No…__ I can not leave. Forgive me, my brother. But my fate and time has already captured me in its fist. This is a moment when not even the doom's day can stop what has already been predicted. Just like not even God can change what already has been."_

"_My sister… why are you denying me?" his voice was only a whisper, which was carried away by the wind._

"_I love you, brother,__" she whispered, face now only filled with sadness, yet there were no tears. "But this is all I can do. Because there is nothing else left. You had to leave me… now I stand alone. You can not save me… Nobody can."_

Yami jumped back and withdrew his hand as if he had been burnt.

"Yami?"

He looked up into Anzu's worried eyes. The world was spinning, his head felt like it was going to explode.

"Yami, what's happening?"

He couldn't make out who was calling. "I can't reach him anymore," he whispered, a lonely tear escaping his eye before he fell into the soft darkness of unconsciousness.

"YAMI!"

"Fuck!" Bakura cursed loudly.

Lou calmly leant over the motionless body of Yami's. "It's okay, he just fainted," he reassured the others.

"How can you tell?" Honda asked.

"Well, there is a slight difference from a Dreamer and a fainted person. You see it if you open their eyes. A fainting is the body's escape when the brain becomes overloaded, a temporary shutdown of the mind to work down information. The Dreamers' minds are still working in their dreams."

Jono sat down, sighing in relief. "Damn, he scared me."

"Anzu, did you hear what he said?" Honda asked the brunette girl.

"It was just a mumble, but I think he said something about not being able to reach somebody anymore."

Lou stood and rested his gaze on Yugi's still form. "I believe he somehow managed to make contact with his brother," he said, some kind of uncertainty in his voice, as if it was only a guess. "I noticed a flash in Mr Atemu's eyes, but it was very brief so I can't say for sure."

"What I can't understand," Bakura started, moving his gaze over to his brother and the other two. "If Yugi is indeed the Battle Princess of the past, why would Ryou and the others join him in Yugi's dream, and not Yami?"

Lou bit his lip, eyes searching into himself for an answer. "The princess's brother died two or three years before she disappeared. He died even before the king."

A memory clicked in Bakura's brain. A second of wide-open green eyes.

"_Father…"_

"Then we're right," he said lowly, mostly to himself. The others stared at him. "They have already lived through the moment of the king's death," the white-haired man exclaimed.

"How can you tell?"

"Because… we were all here. It was soon after Dr. Lou told us… they are all girls. Don't you remember, that fleeting moment when Yugi opened his eyes?"

"Yes, he did mumble something that sounded like 'father'," Anzu said, remembering the event.

"Then the moment of the Battle Princess's death is perhaps not too far away," Lou sighed.

Bakura understood first, and his face turned white as a sheet. "And then… Yugi'll die too," he said.

The others threw startled looks at each other.

"T-there must be something… Anything we can do!" Jono said, panic rising in his voice.

"We haven't gone through all this trouble only for him to die on us," Anzu yelled.

"And what about Seto and the other two?"

"If Yugi dies… Ryou will follow him."

The quiet mumble came from a very still Bakura. Everybody silenced, looking at him puzzled.

"Ever since they were young, since their meeting, Yugi has been Ryou's strongest lifeline. Maybe even in their dream, all of them have grown dependant on the princess. Ryouko wrote it in her diary as well. After her death the kingdom fell apart, and so did her friends."

"Yes," Lou said lowly. "Time is unstoppable. And not even God can change what already has happened."

Yami opened his eyes as the doctor ended his sentence. "But we must do something," he said, and nobody was surprised he was awake.

"What can we do?" Honda asked.

"…Hope."

Everyone turned to Jono, who had a realizing light in his eyes. "The poem reflects to Hope. We can still hope Yugi'll be alright. Maybe all he needs… is our support."

"Where have your brain been the latest 17 years?" Honda asked.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Just what I said."

"Guys, this isn't the right time to quarrel."

"Hope… there must be something else we can do," Bakura said, frustration growing in his voice.

"Like what? It's not like we can join Yugi in his dream and tell him to wake up because he will die if he don't," Honda said.

"The Battle Princess knew she would die."

The friends stared at a death serious Dr Lou.

"What… do you mean?"

"You will understand once you have read the book. In the last battle, the Battle Princess left the white castle forever. _Because they must fail, because I must victory. May God show mercy._ Those were her last words. She knew she would die. And if that is true, young Mr Atemu is now alive to die as well."

Cold shivers ran down everyone's spine. Of cause they all knew they would die a day or another… but to know how to die… none of them wanted to know that.

"It's not true. It's not fair!" Yami said, tears starting to fall down his cheeks. "We haven't done all this just to let him die. Yugi has always been so alive. Why can't it stay that way?"

Bakura hugged himself tightly as he fought his tears. Yugi was the light of Ryou's life, and those two together were the lights of his. If both of them were lost, Bakura knew he would fall into the darkness called loneliness. Yami was right. It wasn't fair.

"I think we have missed a small detail," Jono suddenly said, making everyone slowly look up at him. "Didn't… that old lady Karin have the crucifix of the Battle Princess's? What if that is the key to everything? To hers and Yugi's and all the others' lives?"

Yami dried his eyes along with Anzu and Bakura. "Then we'll go there immediately."

Lou stared after the friends as they left before he turned to the sleeping Yugi. "My dear. Soon it will be over for good. A thousand years has passed since your first birth. Now you will have to put and end to the history, the legend, in this form. But will the cross really be enough? Will you be strong enough, my daughter?"

"Nothing can stop the flow of time," a familiar voice said from the door.

"Shouldn't you be at the bookstore, waiting to give them the cross?"

"I placed it on the desk with a note. You should know how much it hurts to hold it, even in its present state."

Lou was quiet as he watched the Dreamers. "Do you think the cross will be enough? Will this evil circle see its end at last?"

"Let us hope, my friend. That silver cross holds the sprits of both the former Battle Princesses. With his soul in it as well, Dracul's sin brought upon us must be destroyed."


	26. Answers

Hello! Back from my holidays at least one hue darker of skin (I was white as a paper before. My coworkers asked me numerous times how I could be so pale)

Whatever. This fic is soon finished. It took me... I started late July, early August 2005 I think... yes, that must be it. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter. The title says it all so I don't have to waste words on it. Read, enjoy and for God's sake don't forget to review. I love you guys out there.

* * *

**Answers**

_She __stood at the field north of her castle, the north line of her kingdom. The castle looked very safe from her view, like the white guardian of Scotland she so dearly wished she was. That was when she felt the presence of a vampire. She turned around, and surprise filled her eyes as she realized who it was. "Brother?"_

"_Come," he called. "Let us leave. Come home with me."_

_There was a longing in his voice and he reached out for her, ready to take her away. Oh how she wished she could take that hand and flee, run from everything. But as she turned around to look back at the white castle that was her home, she knew she couldn't. It was a fact she deep down didn't want to accept. But it was true… her brother had died two years ago. And there was no way to have him back. The knowledge was painful, but by death she was defeated. It was just the way the world worked._

"_I wish that I could cry," she said with the voice of a pained heart. "Then maybe I would be able to laugh again. I wish that I could go with you. With all my heart I wish I could."_

_When she faced him again__ she tried to smile, but knew that she probably failed miserably. His face was one of disbelief. The stone in her heart grew heavy, her chest felt so tight. "But this is my home, brother. I can not leave. Not for anything… or anyone. Not even you."_

"_Sister…" He looked at her with a hint of fear. Of what she was not able to tell. Maybe was he losing himself__? But she couldn't do anything to save him, as the other way around._

"_No…__ I can not leave. Forgive me, my brother. But my fate and time has already captured me in its fist. This is a moment when not even the doom's day can stop what has already been predicted. Just like not even God can change what already has been."_

"_My sister… why are you denying me?" his voice was only a whisper, which was carried to her by the wind, freezing her heart with sorrow._

"_I love you, brother," she whispered, all of her regret slipping into her voice__. "But this is all I can do. Because there is nothing else left. You had to leave me… now I stand alone. You can not save me… Nobody can."_

_Then everything faded away._

* * *

Yuniko was tired, exhausted to the point she wondered if she would ever be able to wake up again. Somewhere far away she could still hear the wind that had blown inside of her mind which her brother had invaded. Her chest still felt cold and tight. She had always been denied the bliss of waking up in obliviousness. Every morning the first thing she knew was that her kingdom was in danger, that the people were scared, that her brother and father were forever gone and that so much was expected from her.

She heard a soft squeak and a little ray of warmth peeked into her heart, lighting up a picture of a huge golden eagle. At first she thought it was Sky, but then realized this eagle was bigger, older, and by all means stronger.

_Guardian?_ her soul whispered.

The mighty eagle walked clumsily towards her, something that looked like a smile on his hard mouth.

_Not afraid,_ he said as he carefully and lovingly nuzzled her cheek with his powerful beak. _Always here, protecting Treasure_.

He had a very deep voice. It was the first time Yuniko ever heard it. Of course she had been able to sense it, but had been too young to really comprehend what it was.

A lonely, brightly shining tear ran down her face and she realized her soul had been crying for a very long time. _But no one can protect me,_ she whispered.

Guardian's beak touched her naked chest, gently lifting her up from her slumping position. _Can protect Treasure's life, no,_ he said gently, letting her glide down his neck to sit on his back. _But Treasure's heart_, he smiled as he took off towards a sky that opened up in the darkness around them.

Yuniko held onto Guardian's neck with her small arms. She realized she was only a small child again. Behind the bigger Guardian she noticed Sky following them.

_My son,_ Guardian said. _Very protective, love Treasure much._

Yuniko smiled a little. So Sky was Guardian's son? She should have guessed.

Familiar green fields filled her view as she looked down. She saw sheep and their herds, cows enjoying the warmth of the sun, wild rabbits and other small animals played hide and seek in the grass. People were working on their small fields. Children played their games around trees, houses and bushes, or gladly helped their families with what needed to be done.

_Land beautiful thanks to T__reasure_, Guardian said. _No Treasure, no peace._

_But I can not be here forever! _Yuniko called out. _I can not protect the land forever._

_Treasure protect land and people_, Guardian almost scolded her. _Can do no more._

_But I want to do more. How can I protect the land when I am not there anymore?_

_Treasure only human. Can do only what humans can do._ He turned in the air and flew closer to the green ground. The entire land looked like a dream. Still, she knew it was real. She had never been far away from the castle, so she had never actually seen this perfect picture of the daily life of her kingdom.

_This land good for cups to grow_, Guardian told her softly. _Treasure make land good._

_But my end is so soon to come,_ Yuniko said.

_Treasure think lonely thoughts,_ the great eagle scolded her once again. _Treasure never lonely. Never left Treasure. Son never leave Treasure._ He looked down onto the ground, towards a free, white horse with golden hints in the mane. _She never leave Treasure,_ the king of heaven said just as Yuniko realized the horse was Unicorn. _Little humans too. Little humans never leave Treasure._

The white castle came into view, ever so proud, ever so safe.

_Treasure must__ go back. Little humans scared._

* * *

Yuniko slowly opened her eyes, slowly letting her blurred vision clear. The ceiling was dark, but showed a tint of gold and pink. It was just the break of dawn. She was still tired and would gladly have gone back to sleep, but Guardian urged her awake.

Slowly she realized that there must be many persons in her room. She could hear them breathe. She turned her head to the left first, where she heard lesser breathing. On the bed beside her, holding onto her hand and dress tightly, Malin and Mokuba slept with small frowns on their faces.

Yuniko turned her head to the right and found her half sisters in a similar position, but they didn't sleep on the bed. Both of them sat on the floor, Kyoko holding onto her arm with her small, strong hands and Ryouko to her hand with her long, thin piano fingers. All four pairs of hands on her loved her and protected her, and wanted her to come back to them. She must have slept longer than only through the night.

Beyond her sisters Yuniko noticed Joey sitting in a chair with his head leaning against his chest, fast asleep. Honda occupied another chair, resting his head against the chairs high back. There were many more people in the room. Governor Duke, Rebecca, old chef Solomon, the younger of her councilmen… with some satisfaction she noticed Ken among them.

"Little humans scared". That's what Guardian had told her. She had been unconscious for at least four days for all of these people to gather around her bed waiting for her awakening.

The window suddenly opened by a soft wind, as if careful to not wake anybody, and Sky landed in the open window, the morning light colouring his feathers in gold.

"I am sorry for making you worry," Yuniko said softly.

_Mistress fine now?_ Sky asked, moving closer to her.

_Fine now,_ she calmed him. _Please tell Unicorn I am fine. I will see her later._

Sky clapped with his beak in greeting before he turned and left.

Yuniko sat up slowly, but wasn't able to get her sisters, Malin and Mokuba to let go of her. She noticed someone had gone through the trouble of taking away the wedding dress and dressed her in a plain, white night gown.

Smiling softly she carefully wiggled out of the four pairs of hands and walked up to the window. It was a beautiful morning, and on the roof of the guarding tower below her window she could see the see-through spirit of Guardian.

_Always here, protecting T__reasure,_ he said before the image faded away.

"Yuni…"

She turned to her side, where Joey just had mumbled in his sleep. She had to admit that he was very cute when asleep. He looked like an angel.

"I am here. There is nothing to worry about anymore," she breathed into his ear.

Smiling she watched how his body relaxed deeper into the chair. She remembered how he had asked her to marry him, or rather suggested it without being prepared for it himself. He was a great friend and she loved him. And she loved Malin, Mokuba and her sisters. But more than anything she loved Scotland. And the people were a part of her. She would protect them until the end of her life and beyond.

* * *

_She was running towards the image of the queen in front of her. But the more she ran, the farther away the smiling queen seemed to be. She tried to call out to her, but no sound escaped her lips. She was running out of breath and still the image became ever more distant. She saw how the queen turned her back to her with a smile of gratitude and disappear, and then a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders._

Ryouko awoke with a start. "Princess…"

"I am here."

The white-haired girl swirled around in her sitting position and came face to face with the queen. She was the one who had grabbed her shoulders in order to wake her from her nightmare. "P-prince… I mean, Yuniko…"

"I am fine now," Yuniko told her gently, answering Ryouko's unspoken question. "Everything is fine."

"Are you sure? You have been sleeping for six days."

Yuniko sat on the bed beside her, letting her half-sister rest against her legs. She spoke quietly, seemingly not wanting to wake the others up yet. "Magic is a dangerous tool. It eats away on the one using it. Therefore, using as much power as I did I was bound to lose consciousness for a long time."

"And you are fine now?"

"Not completely, I am hungry, but that matter is easily taken care of. How have things been while I was resting?"

"Terrible, your majesty," Ryouko whined. "Not for the people, but for us in the castle. The council will execute Ken the moment of your majesty's awakening…"

"Please call me by name now when we are alone. Right now there is no use for formalities."

Ryouko nodded slowly, fighting to pick up line again. "Everyone has been worried out of their minds for your health and safety… Yuniko. Ken is here because they wish for you to carry out the order of his execution."

Yuniko hushed at her sister who was talking faster and faster. "Calm down. I will not order him to be executed." The relief on Ryouko's face was remarkable. "To execute him would go against everything I believe in. That is what you too know, is it not? That is why you are so scared about the matter?"

Ryouko nodded her head, unable to talk.

"I can sense there is something else you wish to talk to me about, but let it wait until later. The others are beginning to wake up as well.

* * *

Needless to say the entire castle sighed in relief when it was announced the queen had awoken. But as soon as she was dressed she wanted to see her council in the throne room, to decide the fate of Ken.

Dressed in her faintly blue dress with long, bright blue sleeves and the midnight blue ribbon on her back and the sliver cross around her neck, visible for all to see, the queen sat on the throne, Malin at her side, looking down at Ken.

"Dear Ken," the queen started. "The first time you betrayed me you attacked me, and tried to steal my crucifix, the same one now hanging around my neck. That was the time it, and heed my words; my crucifix was the one to cause you those scars in your face."

Ken didn't move. He was kneeling at the base of the stairs with his head hanging low. He had deeply underestimated the queen, but even more so, the vampires. He knew there was no other way out for him than losing his head. He could feel the cold glares from everyone else in the room… except for the queen.

"The second time you had learnt your lesson to not head straight for me yourself, but to call upon a friend of yours, even more so, your uncle."

Those words caused a wave of whispers over the collected. That was new information for all of them. Not even Ken could have imagined the queen to figure that out.

"How…?" he asked with a lump in his throat.

"I have always known you had Irish blood, but I confess it took me a while to figure out late lord Thomas was a relative of yours. But old signs never lie. You and our late Thomas flip your hand the same way when you write."

Quite a few "aha" sounds were heard in the room, Jono and Malin among them. Ken only gulped and nodded in understanding.

"When I realized that you and late Thomas were related I sent a message to an Irish friend of my own and asked him to find out how, that is why I know. But that was beside the subject. Ken, if I had actually been married to late lord Thomas, you would become a part of the Scottish royal family, and that way your new title would protect you from our enemies, the vampires. Or so you thought. You knew that I could not turn down late lord Thomas's offer to join forces with Scotland, because if I did it would most likely be my fall. Thomas had high contacts in Ireland, England, and Wales as well, and to fool them to attack my kingdom would not be a problem. But at the same time there were one thing you had not foreseen; the _actual_ reason for me to accept your late uncle's offer."

Ken looked up a little, confused of what she meant. Was the threat of war not the reason?

"So you still have not realized it? My dear, have you forgotten I am already at war? The reason for me to join forces with Ireland was to fight the vampires. And _that_ you had forgotten to mention to your dear uncle. Am I right?"

The scarred councilman gulped again, face pale, and nodded.

"I am positive you still remember what happened that same night?" the queen continued, receiving another nod from the kneeling man. "I have a guess of who was paying late Thomas a visit that night, because had it been the one who took my father's life, he would have died that night. Before you ask," she cut off Ken's question before he could voice it. "Yes, I am familiar with some of the vampires. Since their goal is to have me killed I have had a few personal conflicts with a few of them. And those few I can tell are the strongest of the vampire tribe. This I can tell, because I have kept a magical barrier around Scotland since my brother died."

Everyone in the room flinched slightly at her words. Few knew about the queen's unusually strong magic. Most of them believed only witches could use it. Of course the thought of blaming the queen for using witchcraft would never cross their minds.

"But your majesty…" Ken started. "To keep up a permanent barrier… not even the strongest of witches would manage such a thing."

"Do not dare to compare my magic to witchcraft, Ken," the queen warned. "The barrier I managed to keep permanent only because my only wish is to protect my kingdom, and my people. To put it simply; Scotland is protected by my wish to keep her safe. And as long as I sit on the throne the barrier will stay up, keeping the vampires in place, unable to spread through the entire world. That is also the reason they wish to see me dead."

Ken slumped down, defeated. He had been a fool way beyond his own imagination. How could he ever have believed he was smart? The queen would go through Hell to protect the people, and he had almost sacrificed the entire earth's peace and freedom to protect himself. He felt like crawling away and bury himself alive for his treason.

"I see your regret, Ken," the queen said, her voice softer. "But as I told you when you got those scars, I would only give you one more chance. And you choose to once again betray me."

A tear of pure shame rolled down Ken's face, falling onto the mat. Right now he would give anything for another chance, but the queen had always stayed true to her promises. She could not leave him without punishment. And the punishment for treason was immediate death.

"Ken, I have judged you, and your penalty is banishment."

Sounds of protest began to rise, but it was silenced by a move of the queen's hand.

"Leave, Ken," the queen's voice sounded. "Leave, and never come back. From now on, or until you are outside the lines of my kingdom, you are on your own, completely without my protection."

Ken nodded, accepted his punishment, and rose to leave. No one tried to stop him.

"One more thing," the queen's voice suddenly sounded, right before Ken exited the room. He turned and looked at her. "Take care," she said.

There were many who thought the queen to be too kind at that moment, but Ken felt a wave of relief. Though he had betrayed her twice, she still forgave him. That was more than he could possibly ask for.

"Long live the queen," he praised her with loud voice and raised arms, then exited the room.

* * *

"You never stop surprising me, your majesty," Ryouko said that same evening when she, Kyoko and Malin sat in the small dining room, drinking tea.

"What have I done now?"

"You saved Ken from the axe, banished him and he forgave you. He is the only one I will ever know of to forgive the one who judged him."

"It is not as simple as that," Malin said. "He was a fool, but he did not realize it until the night of the wedding, when Milady told us all of why she could not step down from the throne. Only then did he realize that the protection he wanted he already had."

"You are almost right," Yuniko said. "Ken acted the way he did because he feared death more than anyone. He thought that the throne could protect him from being killed by the vampires, which he too late realized was not the case. No, Malin. He did not seek protection he already had. He sought protection against death itself."

"Was he a fool for real?" Kyoko burst out. "I mean, death is a part of life, that is what mother always taught us. There is nothing bad about dying, it is not even wrong to be killed. After life comes death, nothing can change that."

"Yes, you are right," Yuniko said softly.

"But then why did he forgive you?" Ryouko asked.

"You can call it an exchange, or some kind of understanding between Ken and me. I gave him one chance to completely regain my trust and protection, but he once again betrayed me. Ken knew he could possibly not be given another chance since I have always stuck to my promises, and the rest of the council would never forgive him for what he tried to do. No one would forgive him. He could simply not stay in the castle even if I did allow him to. But ever since my wedding day, he has been filled with shame and guilt."

"I can tell that, he has not said a word," Kyoko said. "All he has done is hanging with his head like a kicked puppy. He has not looked anybody in the eye."

"But you showed mercy," Ryouko said. "No he can go on living…"

"No," Malin cut off. "The vampires will probably take him."

Yuniko sighed quietly at the harsh tone of her friend, but said nothing about it. "No, Ryouko. It would have been kinder of me to execute Ken."

All three girls shivered and looked at her strangely, somewhat carefully.

"The three of you have not had a home before you came here, am I right?" the three girls nodded. "Therefore I do not expect you to understand, but the worst punishment is not death. It is to leave the place you call home. Yes, banishment means a new start, but when you start over again, you have nothing. No friends or family who can help you."

"But then why did he forgive you?" Ryouko asked, eyes wide with confusion and somewhat hurt.

"Because I forgave him," Yuniko smiled. I could not possibly take back the punishment, but I could forgive him, and Ken thanked me."

They sat in silence for a long time. Rebecca came in with snacks to them, chatted with Yuniko for a moment before she went back to her duties in the kitchen.

"Y-Yuniko?"

"Yes, Ryouko?"

The white haired girl fidgeted slightly in her chair, not meeting her half-sister's gaze.

"Do you… know the vampire who… took you back here that night?"

"He is the one who took my brother away. Why?"

Ryouko's head lowered, covering her eyes with her hair. "No, it was nothing. I am sorry to have brought it up."

Yuniko gave the younger girl a look of concern.

"Ryouko fell out of the window when she tried to shoot that vampire down," Malin explained.

"What?" Yuniko's startled outburst made the other three to jump and caused Ryouko to blush. "What happened?"

Malin explained everything that had happened when she was suddenly taken by that vampire. How she, Joey and Ryouko had rushed after her on the horses, rushed to her room to find the vampire leaning over her. And then how Ryouko had fired an arrow that made a cut in the vampire's cheek as it tried to get away.

"I-I have…" Ryouko started shyly when Malin was done talking. "Your majesty knows Key trained me in archery. So I… when we were running to save you… I found a bow and… I thought that I could… take it down."

"Ryouko. Vampires are undead. An arrow can not hurt them," Yuniko said loudly with pure concern in her sky blue eyes. "Were you hurt? How did you survive falling out of the window?"

Ryouko's blush deepened. "The vampire caught me," she mumbled.

"Did he hurt you?"

The younger shook her head no. "He… he saved me, and took me to the west tower… Obviously I missed with the arrow, because I can not remember any wound on his face. Sky was there too. I think he would protect me if the vampire had tried to hurt me."

"I see. Sky is foremost the protector of my heart," Yuniko explained. "Since you are important to me, Sky will protect you, and Unicorn too."

"Yes, thank you. But this vampire… For some reason he… Wait! He looked almost like me!"

Malin and Kyoko stared strangely at her.

"Yes, I too have noticed your resemblance to Aku…"

"Aku?"

"Oh, I remember," Kyoko suddenly realized, snapping her fingers. "The day we found your silver cross you told us about him. If I remember correctly he is the one who have caused you more pain than any of the others."

"…Yes. I suppose he has."

Malin and Yuniko's half-sisters stared at the queen. They had all believed Yuniko disliked, or even hated, the one who had caused her so much pain, but her voice told them that was not the case.

"Yuni?" Malin spoke softly.

"Do you not hate that man? Not even a little?" Kyoko asked.

Yuniko laughed amused. "Yes, I too believe it is human to hate the one who causes you pain. But I can tell you it is very hard to hate someone who loves you. May it be Aku has caused me a lot of pain, still he has always comforted me afterwards."

The memory stuck Ryouko hard. "He actually does love you," she said a little too loud, causing Kyoko and Malin to stare at her and Yuniko to laugh.

"So you talked to him that night? What did he tell you?" Yuni asked with a warm smile.

Ryouko blushed. "Not much actually. But he said that they only feed once a month, but since they are so many it may seem they feed every night."

"Oh?" the queen said, rising her eyebrows. "That is interesting… and frightening. This means there are more of them than I have believed. And since Scotland is protected, England and Wales must be the kingdoms suffering the greatest losses."

"Why only England and Wales? Why not Ireland or the countries beyond the seas."

"Most likely because they are too far away. Once they have fed they must return to their home north of us, and my barrier makes the flight longer than it should."

"Yuniko, you said no vampire could enter your barrier, did you not?" Kyoko asked.

"That is why I am concerned. The old barrier could hold back most of the vampires, except for those who possess magical powers that can resist the pressure of my barrier. Those few vampires who invaded my wedding are all high-ranked vampires with strong magical powers. People like father Scot."

They were quiet for some time, before Kyoko once again spoke up. "Vampires were once ordinary living humans? But until we arrived here magic was nothing but a tale. Mother spoke of it sometimes, but never as anything else but a story."

"Mother possessed magic, but since she lost her royal title she was forbidden to use it. As I have told you before magic is a dangerous tool that can not be taken lightly. In the worst case it can cause you your death when you overwork yourself. The royal family is the only ones who are allowed to use magic, and then only when there is no other way out."

"So those vampires who invaded the wedding were once royalty?" Kyoko asked.

Yuniko smiled. "You are very quick-witted, little Kyoko. Yes, that was my first thought too, but that was before I took a closer look at Aku and the one eyed one. I can tell none of them are royalty, and still they could enter my barrier. Before Lisa died I asked her about who possessed magic, and she explained it all to me. Royalty are the only ones _allowed_ to use magic, but we are not alone about possessing it. Aku and the one eyed one may have realized they possessed it and used it for their own purposes, but that is only a guess. Still, magic grows stronger the more it is used."

"…Do we… possess magic?" Ryouko asked timidly.

Yuniko looked at them, her gaze searching. "I can not tell if magic is passed down with the generation. If that is true, then yes. But you are tired tonight, so I would suggest we wait until tomorrow before we try anything."

"Would you… teach us to use it?" Kyoko asked, somewhat exited.

"No," Malin answered. "Magic is no game. You are still guests here, and without a royal title you are not allowed to use magic even if you happen to possess it."

"Calm down, Malin. Yes, you are right, but then again magic is nothing you can be thought. When the need to use it arises, then you will be able to use what magic you possess. But I will forbid you to use it, even if it is for good. Now, off to bed with you. There is a day tomorrow as well."

* * *

"Yuni, why did you say you would find out if your sisters possess magic if you were going to forbid them to use it?" Malin asked as the nightgown fell over the queen's body like a wind.

"They have the right to know, even if they can not use it. And I am suspicious about little Ryouko's heritage."

"You mean you have a guess of who is her father?"

"Yes… and if I am right…" Yuniko left the sentence unfinished and looked out of the window with something unreadable in her eyes. The soft moonlight gave her a silvery glow.

"Then what?"

Yuniko snapped out of her trance. "I can not tell… yet."

* * *

Yuniko lay awake that night. Once she was sure Malin was asleep she walked up to her window and stared mutely into the dark night. The moon would be dark the day after tomorrow. Scotland was peaceful this night. From where she stood she couldn't hear any sounds. Everything seemed sleepily quiet and calm. But Yuniko could feel it, the tenseness, the storm that was about to break free. This was only the calm before the storm, and she knew she should enjoy it while it lasted, for she knew it would be the last she experienced.

Yuniko jumped when she felt one of them enter her barrier. For a second she wondered if her new barrier had weakened, but then realized that was not the case. The one entering was simply stronger than the barrier.

It took her a while, but as the vampire closed in on the castle she was able to make out Aku's familiar chill.

Yuniko walked over to Malin's bed and made sure her nurse was fast asleep before she exited her room. As long as her father had lived there had always been a guard right outside her door, but when he died it was one of the first things she changed. If the vampires decided to visit her it would only cause the guard's death, and she refused it to be like that. As it was now she silently slipped out of her room on her way towards the west tower, Guardian's tower.

"Who is that girl?"

"Of all you could have said, that is the first thing you ask me?"

Aku was halfway through the window with one foot on the floor. He looked a little caught off guard, but quickly recovered. He sat down in the open window with one long leg supporting his form. He said nothing as he tried hard to voice his thoughts.

"I take it she has filled your mind since you left her here."

She didn't mean to question him, but he took it as if she through he was falling for another girl.

"Not like that. I told you I love you, and you know better than to believe in lies."

"You misunderstand me. Before you… when you were still alive, more than 15 years ago, you went to bed with a woman. Am I right?"

Aku's pale cheeks were set on fire at the statement. He wished she had never found out that he was at least 20 years older than her and had been with someone else.

"I thought so. This woman you… was with, did she have any resemblance to me?"

Aku looked up at her, still ashamed for his life's sins. He had to confess he couldn't really remember that woman.

"She was on the run, and my sister and I helped her hide for some time. I did not mean to go to bed with her, it just happened."

"And resulted in Ryouko," Yuniko stated. A few seconds of silence, then she could almost hear the coin fall through.

"That woman bore my child."

"Gave birth to her and raised her on her own. Later she also gave birth to another child to whom she gave the name Kyoko."

Aku looked up at her, something searching in his eyes. "How can you know so much about her?" he asked slowly.

Yuniko took a deep breath. She had just gotten it proved, but it still somewhat hurt her. And yet she knew the two of them was never meant to be. "Because that woman was my mother."

Aku's eyes grew wide as plates and his mouth hung open, revealing his sharp fangs.

"16 years ago my mother, the former queen of Scotland, tried to take me away from my kingdom in order to save me from you, from the vampires, and let me live a life in peace. She failed, and was banished because of what she tried to do. Later her sister tried to commit the same crime, but she lost her life. Mother had promised to return to me, and last year she did. She came here and left her two daughters, one of them yours as well, in my care. My father found her with me, and because of that she had to either leave immediately or be killed on the spot. She left… and Crow took her life away."

Aku fought to understand all the information she had just given him and what it meant in the end. Slowly everything fell down to the same thing.

"I went to bed with your mother."

Yuniko said nothing. She only waited for him to voice what she had already figured out.

"My daughter… is your sister."

The young woman only nodded without looking at him, and he couldn't bring himself to look at her.

"My daughter…"

She looked up at him, to find a small smile grace his features, though he had hid his eyes with a hand.

"I have a daughter."

"Yes," Yuniko whispered when she realized something. "You have a child. Though you never knew about it."

Aku glanced at her, a wish clear in his eyes.

"Follow me… from outside."

* * *

Ryouko awoke by a hand gently shaking her and looked up into a pair of clear blue crystals.

"Your majesty?"

"There is someone who wish to see you again," Yuniko whispered and stood back. Ryouko looked around the room, but it was empty. She cast a questioning glance at the queen. "Open the window," her half sister whispered and moved further into the shadows.

Hesitantly the young girl walked towards the window. Once there she put her hands on the handles. She turned to Yuniko once more and saw her nod encouraging, but her eyes were shadowed, so Ryouko couldn't tell what she thought. She returned her attention to the window and opened it wide.

The night air that hit her face was chilly, and Ryouko barely had time to notice the crescent moon before a shadow stood in front of her. She opened her mouth to scream, but cold fingers rested against her lips, as light as a feather. A pair of blue eyes met the 14 year old girl's and she recognized them as the eyes of the vampire whom she had talked to the other night.

"You…"

The vampire said nothing, but gently pushed her backwards so that he could come into the room.

"You… what are _you_ doing here?"

"To see you again," the vampire said lowly.

Ryouko's mouth hung open as she stared at the beautiful man in front of her. Her? Why would he wish to see _her_ again? Did he not say he loved Yuniko?

"Me? Why? Her majesty…"

"…Shall I leave?" Yuniko's soft voice asked. Ryouko picked up hurt and sorrow in the voice and immediately turned to where her half-sister stood in the shadows.

"I wish for you to stay…" the vampire whispered.

The shadow that was the queen nodded her head, but never lifted her head to look at the twosome.

Ryouko was confused. Why was Yuniko hurting? And why in the world would this vampire wish to see her?

"What is your name?"

Ryouko turned her wide eyes to the vampire, who studied her carefully. "Ryouko," she answered, pronouncing it just like her mother had done.

The man smiled slightly and closed his eyes. "I see. I should have known."

The more she stared at him, the more she realized how much he looked like her. His hair fell over his shoulders in the same manner her own always did. His hands were as long and slim as her own. And that nose of his looked just like the one she saw in her own face every time she looked in a mirror. "Who are you?"

It took a few seconds before Ryouko realized the question had come from her. But the vampire only smiled, this time warmly.

"Since I died my name has been Aku. But when I was still alive, my name was Ryou."

To Ryouko it was like someone had ripped down a dark, heavy curtain and opened the window. Her eyes grew wide as plates and her mouth hung open. "You… you are my _father_!"

The man reached out a hand and touched his daughter's cheek. How long hadn't he dreamt and longed for a child? How crushed hadn't he been when he died, realizing his dream could never become reality? How hadn't he envied the happy families he had seen when he hunted? He felt how his broken heart healed and his deep bitterness disappeared.

Ryouko felt like she had found a piece of herself she hadn't even realized was missing. She had always believed she was satisfied having no father. But now she realized how wrong she had been. Knowing her father's name and face made her feel complete. She reached out and touched her father's face. He only smiled and let her.

Yuniko watched the two from the shadows. She did not know what would happen from now on, but right then she found she didn't really care. The hurt in her chest eased at the sight of the two of them so happy. She caught herself smiling happily.

"Tell me of yourself," Ryouko said eagerly. "Tell me everything. I wish to know everything about you."

Aku smiled, his fangs escaping his lip. "I do not think that is possible. Because there are some things about me I do not even know myself." He chuckled at the young girl's confused face. "No human being is completely aware of themselves. There are sides of them they can not see, which are only obvious to their surroundings."

"Then tell me about the you you know," Ryouko suggested.

Aku smiled sadly. "I confess I can not remember much about me as alive. I have changed, been changed, by what I am now, and the one responsible for my kind."

"The vampire lord?" Ryouko asked.

"His real name only he knows, but we call him Sanguis."

"Blood," Yuniko whispered.

Aku slowly nodded, glancing at the woman he loved. "Sanguis's whispers can drive the strongest of men over the edge of insanity. Atemu is fighting back, but he is slowly losing his mind. But since he has been a prince and has a pride that does not allow him to take orders from just anyone. I can only hope he will be fine when I am not there to support him anymore."

"But why are you not as provoked as the others?" Yuniko asked.

"Because I am aware that jealousy and hate can not give me what I want. I wished for children, and killing every child in sight would only cause the same, or worse, pain that I had suffered."

"But father…"

At Ryouko's voice Aku felt how warmth spread throughout his chest from his heart. "Yes… daughter?"

"What do you mean… that you will not be there for the prince anymore?"

A sad expression covered the vampire's face and he looked out of the open window at the sky where the moon could be seen as only a thin crescent on the sky. "Because now when I have what I have always wanted, there is no reason for me to return to the fortress. I would not have been able to reach it in time anyway, before sunrise."

"Before sunrise?"

"Like the Battle Princess once guessed, we can not face the sun. If we do… we melt. Only our lord can be out during the days since he is so much stronger than any of us. He does not suffer in the sun, he just hate it."

"But… Yuniko. You know of some place in this castle the sun can not find, right?"

Yuniko stared with wide eyes at Aku without blinking. She understood what Aku was trying to say without speaking the words out loud. It was not that he did not have time to return. He didn't want to. He had his daughter holding onto his arm, a child he had always wanted, but only been able to dream about. Aku had no more desire to keep him in the world of living.

She slowly shook her head, denying Ryouko's wish. "There is no place for him in the white castle."

"That is a lie!" Ryouko cried. "Why? I thought you loved each other."

Aku placed a hand on her shoulder. Ryouko had tears in her eyes, crying in desperation, because she wanted her father to stay. He smiled lovingly and took her in his arms, wiping away the tears. For a long time they stood like that, rocking from side to side while Yuniko stood beside them, watching the night outside. The east was already turning a softer shade of blue.

"The new day is arriving," she said softly.

Aku looked up from Ryouko's head. The young girl had almost fallen asleep in his arms. But when his eyes fell on the other woman his eyes widened. In front of him stood the queen of Scotland, the Battle Princess, and the only human Sanguis feared. All of his people feared this woman, the same he loved so dearly. But they all had a reason to fear her.

Yuniko's eyes held so much determination. She was strong and safe, a cliff many people depended on. She held the fate of the world in her hand, and without fear she would defend the living people of the earth. And still, though all these other things she was to others, she was just a human.

"We must fail," he whispered. "Because you must victory."

Yuniko faced him, her eyes knowing what would happen to her.

The day was quickly arriving and Aku felt how the sky opened up to him. He was finally allowed the rest meant for the dead.

Yuniko saw how Aku's image started to fade in the edges. He stood with the sleeping Ryouko in his arms and placed his daughter on her bed. Looking at her face he smiled and lovingly kissed her forehead.

"You will take care of her for me, right?" he whispered without looking away from Ryouko's face.

"As long as I live."

The statement made something very clear for both of them; Yuniko did not have very long to live.

"I wish I could stay here with her… and you. But a wish can not change the chain of events that we call history…"

He walked up to Yuniko who still stood by the window. He took her in his arms and found her lips with his own. She found him warm, like he was alive again. And she cherished this her last moment with him.

Aku put all his love and gratefulness in this last kiss he would ever share with her. He stayed like that until the sun finally hit them both. He let her go, and when he stepped out of the window Yuniko could no longer see him, though she knew he was still there.

"And nothing can change," she whispered.


	27. The Crusifix

Hi everybody. Here I am again with a chapter that will turn the story around once again. This far the plot has moved here and there in the most unpredicable ways (I never planned half of it). I'm almost satisfied with the chapter and all the information I'm able to give you in it. I've mentioned... No, on second thought I should just let you read and find out for yourselves.

Have a great time and don't forget to **review

* * *

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**The crucifix**

_This is the bible our princess found in the royal library only a few days before her coronation. I believe you do not think it strange for her to find a bible in her library, but then I should tell you; the church did not allow any library to own one of the holy books._

"That's what it says," Bakura said once he was done reading. They had arrived to the bookstore only to find it dark and empty, but not locked.

"You think this note was left for us?" Jono asked.

"How could they guess we would come here again, and why leave us a bible of all things?" Honda said.

"And most of all; why leave the store unlocked? Anyone could enter and just take whatever they want," Yami said.

"It must be some clue," Anzu said hopefully. "The note said the princess found it where it should not be."

"More than that," Yami said, reading the note once again. "It says 'our' princess. Doesn't that sound strange to you?"

"The old lady said she had always loved the Battle Princess, maybe that's why?"

"Then why a bible of all things?" Jono burst out and snapped the book away from Anzu.

"_Please, Joey. You must tell me how you feel," she pleaded quietly._

"_How I feel? You want to know how I feel? Then let me tell you. I am furious, confused and completely in despair! First of all you promised to stand as my bride I do not know how long ago, and then you suddenly give your own hand to somebody else right under my nose! I felt like you betrayed me. But… for a moment, for some time, I believed you had a good reason to accept his offer, that you somehow were given no other choice. And today… today you look like tomorrow will be the happiest day in your life! I no longer know what to do, how to feel. Every day you break another piece of my heart. Mokuba is crying himself to sleep, Honda can not sleep at all anymore. I know Malin is keeping herself in check only because you are always near her, but I can tell her heart is breaking and how she seems sick whenever you are speaking to that man or his Godforsaken son. And it is not only us. The entire castle is feeling the same. And you know why? Because tomorrow you are giving away yourself and Scotland freely."_

"Jonouchi?"

When Honda placed a hand on his shoulder Jono's legs gave in under him.

"Jonouchi!"

"She will die."

The gang stared at the blond, who sat on the floor with tears streaming down his face in wild rivers. "She has gone to die. It is too late. No one can save her anymore. We can not change what has happened, we can not stop what is about to happen. She has gone to die."

A shadow moved in the darkness of the store. Anzu looked up from Jonouchi to stare into the back of the store. "Is somebody there?" she called, making the other's look up, but there were no more movement, nor an answer.

"Sorry. Just my imagination."

Honda looked puzzled as he concentrated on the dark. "I don't think so," he said lowly and took a few careful steps into the store. The sun was slowly disappearing beyond the horizon. It would be full moon in two nights.

"Stop hiding," Honda called into the darkness with as much mature he could muster. "I know you are there."

Still there was no answer. Yami distantly registered Honda had used a different dialect when he spoke. Anzu heard no change in the brunette's voice, Jono stared into the darkness, sensing a far familiar chill down his spine. And Bakura. Bakura had locked his gaze with the one hiding in the dark shadows.

"Come out, you thief," Anzu called as her mind came to the closest, logical conclusion. "For your sake I hope you haven't taken anything just because the store was unlocked."

"It is no thief luring in there, Anzu," Bakura said lowly.

"What _else_ could it be? A vampire?"

The sun disappeared.

The teens shivered at the chuckle they heard from the shadows. "There was a time I believed in the saying 'Time changes everything', but as I look at you I understand nothing has changed. It makes me feel young again."

"Who are you?" Honda yelled.

"The princess called him father Scot."

Everybody but Yami turned to a dead serious Bakura.

"The princess?" Anzu asked in disbelief.

"So you really _are_ a vampire?" Honda asked the shadow that had moved closer to them.

"That is what the humans named us, and is a name we have been stuck with ever since the first Battle Princess's time."

"The _first_ Battle Princess?" Anzu asked, partly dumbfounded.

"Before princess Yuniko, there was another woman who the man she loved called Battle Princess," Yami heard himself say, surprising himself he knew these things. "His real name is buried in time, but his people called him Sanguis."

"Sanguis? Is that not Latin for blood?"

"That is true, Sir Honda."

"Huh?"

Another chuckle. "So you still do not completely remember? This whole time you have been searching for the truth, and all along you have borne it around your neck. As have everyone who died with the princess's blood still protecting them."

"Her… blood?" Jono whispered as his hand moved to where it once hung in a thin chain. "The pearl…"

"You almost have the memory in your grasp, young Joey… No, that is not your name in this life, is it?"

Jono shook his head.

"This is annoying!" Anzu suddenly yelled. "Why does everybody but me remember an earlier life?"

"Because the princess made sure you left Scotland before any harm could be drawn upon you. She saved your life from much pain. Crow wanted to make you a whore of our people."

Anzu shivered to the bone. She was suddenly glad she had no memories, her sudden jealousy instantly dead.

"I will not hurt you, nor can I let you see me yet. I have come to you only to see you release the Battle Princess in this time, to completely erase us from this planet. She has very little time left."

"My brother," Yami spoke up. "If the Battle Princess dies, what will become of my brother?"

A pair of eyes stared into his without him seeing them. "Only God knows," the vampire said and was gone.

Silence once again filled the room and almost clearing memories faded as fast as they had cleared. Only one of them held onto needed memories. He still had the bible in his arms, and it opened with a click.

"The crucifix," Jono whispered, making the others look down at what he had done. "The Battle Princess's link to God. She will need it to protect the world."

"Isn't that the cross Karin showed us the other day?" Anzu asked.

"The cross that belonged to the Battle Princess?" Honda said uncertainly.

"And Yugi is the Battle Princess!" Yami suddenly realized. "We must give it to Yugi and maybe he'll wake up again."

Jono was on his feet, on weak legs, and walked out of the store, closely followed by his friends. He still held the bible close to his body as parts of memories flashed through his mind. Memories of two lives.

From the top of a building Scot watched the youths on their way to the hospital.

"So this is it?" he asked the one he sensed standing behind him.

"The three Battle Princesses will together end this war."

Scot looked up at the stars, the only thing in the world that had not changed at all during his time. "It has been a long time. I long to finally rest as the dead are supposed to."

"A very long time," the other agreed. "There are many things I wish I could have done different."

"The scripts of the first Battle Princess say that when past, present and future meet the Devil has lost."

The other vampire stood quiet for a long time. "I really hope we have done the right thing now," he whispered.

* * *

The hospital was unnervingly empty, but the doctors and nurses there did no motion to stop the five friends from visiting the Dreamers.

The fifth section was completely empty of people and eerily quiet. They entered the Dreamers' room, but didn't dare to turn on the lights. Jono picked up the crucifix and put it on Yugi's chest.

Nothing happened. They waited, but nothing happened.

"NO! This can't be. We were so close!"

"Calm down, Yami. Maybe… this isn't the cross after all."

"That old hag fooled us!" Anzu yelled.

"It is the cross," Jono said, seemingly the only one still calm. He stared at the cross and grabbed for what was no longer around his neck. "I know it is."

"Jono?"

"I gave the cross to her, because she would know what to do with it. But she wasn't prepared for what she had to do when the time came. Then something happened that day, the day we found the bible in the library. She put the cross around her neck and…"

"…And what?" Bakura pressed.

Jono bit his lip and his bangs shadowed his eyes. "I can't remember. I can't grasp the memory. I only know something happened."

"Wait, go back. You mean the princess wasn't alone when she found it?" Yami asked with a frown.

"No," Jono whispered. "When I gave her the cross we had my entire clan and her friends as witnesses. Then it was I, Kyoko, Ryouko and Malin who looked for it with her. But Ryouko found the bible and Kyoko the poem in different parts of the library."

"Wait, wait. I must remind myself who is who," Anzu said.

"Ryouko and Kyoko are half sisters with each other and the princess," Jono explained.

"And who are you?" Bakura asked.

"I am the one reborn with the princess, her friend and bodyguard."

"That one was new," Yami mumbled. "How do we get this cross to work?"

Jono suddenly returned to his actual time when he remembered something that had annoyed him for a long time.

"Dr Lou has something of the princess's."

"What?"

"He has something in his chest pocket. Something that shines."

"I've seen that too," Honda said. "It's really annoying to talk to him since that shiny thing always pokes my attention."

"And he probably isn't here anymore," Anzu said. "We'll have to return tomorrow morning and talk to him. That's the only thing we can do for now."

"…You're probably right," Yami said slowly. He was frustrated beyond belief. He had been so sure the crucifix would give him his brother back. And now he would have to live through another night of nightmares.

When the gang left the hospital and separated to go home something happened in the Dreamers' room. The chain of the crucifix sneaked around Yugi's neck and linked together. All rust and discolouring vanished, the jewels lost all dullness and sparkled as if they were alive. The whole thing gleamed and sparkled in the darkness before it sunk into Yugi's body where it belonged.

* * *

_July 12, 1630_

_I met my father tonight. But I will never see him again, because he was already dead. My father was a vampire, and I am the child of a whore._

_The princess was here when I woke up and she told me my father had gone to Heaven. She said that he wished he could have stayed. I asked if he had said that and she answered that the words had not needed to be spoken. She has promised me she will try to find out who he was when alive, so that I that way can get to know him. I have heard his voice and felt his touch. But I feel like I can not tell any of these things to Kyoko. Even if she still is the rational and logical girl whom I have grown up with, to tell her I have met my father, that Aku the vampire was my father, I believe she will be hurt and try to find her own father._

_I do not know what will happen from now on, but the princess has told me to enjoy the summer while I can, because the winter will arrive sooner than we think. I wonder what she meant by that._

Ryouko put away her pencil and placed her diary with the newly written page up on her desk to let the ink dry. She looked out of the window, watching the day as it moved on like every other in history. The sun rose and would fall in the evening, turning the day into night. It had always been that way. The sun, moon and all the stars watched the humans' short lives; their daily work, their happiness, love, grief, hate… all the wars around the world. And though she knew she was a part of all this, she realized just how unfair life could be to the chosen ones.

"There is so much you can never decide on your own," she mumbled to herself.

"That is so true."

Ryouko jumped out of her skin at the sound of another voice in her room.

"Oh, I am sorry. I never meant to scare you, little Ryouko."

The white haired girl turned around to face Malin, who leaned over her with slight concern in her purple eyes. "Is everything all right with you?" she asked.

God bless Malin. She was really one of the kindest hearts Ryouko had ever met. She truly cared for her and Kyoko.

"Everything is… fine," she answered. "I was just… philosophising."

Malin smiled, though it was a sad one. "You always seem to walk in your own little world, Ryouko. Her majesty is worried you are feeling lonely, that is why I am here. She told me what happened last night. You wish to talk about it?"

Once again Ryouko felt how tears rose in her eyes and started to fall, no matter how hard she tried to hold them back. She was just so grateful the queen cared so much about her. She suddenly found herself wrapped up in the queen's nurse's arms, crying loudly, hiccupping every once in a while.

"I… it is so… unfair," she sniffed. "I could meet my father. If only for a short while I could meet him. I can not tell Kyoko about it. I can not tell how she will react. And the princess… she has lost everything. And still… I blame her. Somewhere in my mind… I b-blame her for everything. For mother's ending… father's ending… f-for everything. I-I am ashamed. I-I can not understand when she is trying to… comfort me. She n-never touches me… or holds me… I-I… I am so stupid…"

Malin held the crying girl a little tighter. She understood those feelings. There was a time when she too blamed Yuniko for what was happening… until she realized just how hard the queen fought against what was happening. She hadn't realized it until the wedding.

"Hush now, little one. Yuniko blames herself for every soul lost in this war. And she is still queen. She is not… allowed to hold or touch anyone. The only way for her to give comfort is with words."

"But… she held Kyoko. She told me she did, the night mother disappeared."

Malin smiled sadly. "You have never been alone with Milady and showed the same desperate need of touch and comfort. Milady told me about it. Kyoko had been scared of her. But what we all need to remember is that… though she is a queen, though so much depends on her, and though everything that is expected of her… she is still a human. She can do much more than a normal human; she is Scotland's most powerful woman ever after all. But she is still a human. She too needs human contact and comfort sometimes… but there is never anyone to give her such luxury."

"But… but she is queen. Is she not able to…?"

"Milady can not show she has a weakness. A weak monarch is a dead monarch. Therefore… she does not even cry anymore. I do not know… if I ever saw her cry."

When Malin returned to the queen's chambers she found the young ruler fast asleep. The nurse watched her for a moment, realizing once again how beautiful Yuniko was, and how troubled she looked in her sleep.

Malin sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do to help. She could not rule Scotland with the queen. She could not share the burden of responsibility. And she could not fight vampires… when she thought more about it, thinking of the details, there was very little Malin actually could do. And it only pressed her mood to the bottom. Little did she know the reason Yuniko looked troubled this night.

* * *

"_Who is there?"_

"_Who are you?"_

"_What is this place?"_

_The three persons looked at each other. Everything about each of them caught the other's attention. First of all it was the face. All of them had almost the same face. One had golden brown eyes, the other crystal blue, and the third, the shortest of them, had emerald green eyes. _

_The brown-eyed person was a tall woman with her curly, golden bangs cut to not fall into her eyes. Her black and blue hair was tied back into a thick braid. _

_The blue-__eyed one, a young woman, had her curly, waist-long hair lose and only a few short golden bangs let her see._

_The green-__eyed one had shoulder length, black, blue and golden hair. He was also the only male._

_The brown-__eyed woman seemed to be in her early thirties and had tanned skin, bare, strong arms and colourful cloths that looked like they were just lose material tied together._

_The blue-__eyed woman couldn't be over twenty and had very pale skin, a thin, well shaped body and a simple, baby blue dress with darker blue sleeves and a midnight blue ribbon at the back._

_The green-__eyed boy, still a teenager, also had pale skin and a lean, agile body dressed in a plain white shirt and blue jeans._

_The dark-skinned woman and the boy looked at each other before they both turned to look at the other woman._

"_Who are you?" the blue-eyed woman asked._

_The boy looked at the tanned woman before he took a step forward. "My name is Yugi. I am your future."_

_The tanned woman stepped up beside him. "My name is Yohim, wife to the gipsy clan leader of Yoro. I am your past."_

_The still unnamed girl looked at the other two in confusion._

"_You are the Battle Princess of Scotland, Yuniko," Yugi said._

"_We are here to help you defeat my husband," Yohim said._

"_Your husband?" Yuniko asked. Yugi also looked at the older woman in surprise._

"_Aye. I-we meet here in the middle of eternity to stop what I started."_

"_Then you are the one who must tell us the beginning," Yugi said. "You are the first Battle Princess, the past. Yuniko, you are the second Battle Princess, the present. And I should be the last Battle Princess, the future."_

"_But why did you not come to me a lot earlier?"_

"_We have been with you all the time, Yuni," Yugi smiled. "I have been there ever since your mother was banished. Malik, Ryou and Seto are with you too."_

"_But why?"_

"_Because those three's souls are tied to mine," Yohim said. "Those three were my closest friends. The ones I love the most, and who loves me the most."_

"_Tell us the entire story, so we can solve this mess."_

"_But why are we here?" Yuniko asked again._

"_To defeat the vampires with you, of course," Yugi smiled._

"_Take my hands," Yohim said, reaching for their hands. "We are the same person, so I shall give you my memories."_

_As Yuniko and Yugi took each other's and Yohim's hands and closed their eyes they were sent to the world of memories. Yohim's memories._


	28. Battle Princess of Walachia

Hi again. First of all I wanted to tell you this chapter was NOT planned. This story's been as much of a surprise to me as it has to you. But that's the best with being an author (grins).

The chapter turned out very well and an important clue is given here... You'll have to read the chapter to figure it out. Have a great time and don't forget to REVIEW!!

* * *

**The Battle Princess of Walachia**

"Yohim!"

The young woman stretched her back and turned to her mother, the one calling for her.

"Yes, mother?"

"Mil and Ry has run off again. Go look for them. Ye're the only one they have respect for."

Yohim frowned and sighed tiredly, making her look ten years older than she was. Mil and Ry, shorts for Milihocheaw and Rytus, were her young adoptive sons. Mil was twelve and a very protective big brother, but that hardly stopped him from being a cocky brat. Ry was his two years younger brother, and the worse troublemaker to ever walk the earth. The two of them had lost their parents to an illness, so Yohim had taken them under her wings protection and raised them for five years now.

Yohim went to her home and put away her scythe and went to look for her children.

'The best with those two,' she thought as she took off in the direction of a loud noise and raised voices. 'Is that they are so easy to find when they have done something.'

She placed herself just around a corner and waited with her arms crossed. And only seconds later a young boy with cream coloured hair and dark purple eyes rounded the corner with his white haired brother and ran right into her, making both the kids fall back on their butts. Mil's flashing eyes looked up, and immediately the look of harm and hurt pride changed into one of surprise and shame. His brother stood up and was about to run away with a cocky comment over his shoulder when he realized whom they had run into, and his round face immediately fell.

"Let me guess; you were bored?" Yohim said calmly. The children only nodded.

A man in his late forties suddenly turned the corner, making both Mil and Ry hide behind their protector's skirts.

"Yohim, this is the third time this moon! Do something about those children or God help them if I get my hands on them next time they touch my tomato plants."

"I am not their mother, Kohamo. They don't have the same respect for me as they had for her. But if they do touch your plants again I assure you I will not be here to save them again."

That made both Mil and Ry look at each other in fear.

"The best would be to give them a lesson in discipline right away!" the man yelled, and the children hid further behind Yohim's skirts.

"Not all agree with you," Yohim said, her voice daring the man to say against her. She may be a woman, but she was a woman with high authority. Kohamo fell back under her straight glare and mumbled something before he turned and walked away.

Yohim turned and walked back to her home, the children following her like kicked puppies.

"Ma Yoro?" Ry spoke up softly, but the older woman ignored him.

"Are we in trouble?" Mil asked, but Yohim still ignored them.

The boys looked worriedly at each other. If Yohim wanted to she could just leave them on the street, and right now they were really worried they had buried themselves too deep.

They arrived to their home, a small hut just enough for the small family to live in. It had two rooms, one for sleeping in, and one for eating in. Having two rooms were a luxury in their clan.

Yohim went straight for the small shed the entire clan shared and took out her scythe, making the two boys draw back in fear.

"Here," Yohim said and handed the kids one rake each. "Since you can't be still without me around, you simply have to help me on the field."

The boys silently took the rakes and followed their adoptive mother back to the field she had been working on before.

"My, my. You have finally decided to teach them a little discipline," a bright voice said.

Yohim smirked and turned to the one who had talked. "Like you are one to talk, Kaio. I must say I can't remember last time I saw you work."

Kaio, Yohim's cousin and best friend, laughed at the comment, knowing what the other meant. "Four hands work faster than two," she said as she grabbed her scythe and followed Yohim and the kids.

Kaio was four years younger than Yohim and still unmarried, though she certainly didn't lack suitors. Her skin was beautifully tanned and her waist-long, autumn brown hair was straight in difference to other gypsies. Most of them had black, curly hair like Yohim. And her eyes were blue. A beautiful, heaven blue colour every unmarried gypsy girl envied.

"Yohim…" Mil started carefully, but his protector cut him off with a very angry voice.

"If you two troublemakers stay close to me and work as you're supposed to do, I can promise you with Earth and Heaven as witnesses that nothing will harm you."

That was a promise that could not be broken, and the boys knew it. Earth and Heaven always witnessed their daily work and would punish anyone who broke a promise under their guarding eyes. They nodded their heads.

"Good. Then you can grab those rakes and go to work. And God help you if I turn around and find you have run away again."

"…Yes, Ma Yoro," the boys said lowly, both heads lowered in shame.

"Harsh words, my friend," Kaio whispered to her older cousin.

* * *

When they went to bed that night both Mil and Ry were drained. They had stayed very close to Yohim the entire day, afraid of what would happen if they didn't. When their adoptive mother entered the hut they stared up at her, once again noticing how strong and beautiful she was.

Yohim ignored them though. She started making her and her husband's bed. She was still angry with them.

"M-mother."

That made the older woman look over at the pair of very big, teary eyes staring at her. She heaved a heavy sigh before she walked over to the boys and sat down and held them close to her, one on each side. "My dear boys. You are still thinking of today, are you not?"

Both of them nodded, not daring to look up at her.

Yohim sighed again. "You should know by now I have a short temper, so please tell me why you continue to test my patience."

Both boys hid their faces deeper into her chest, not seeing Yohim's pained expression. No one said anything in a long while, but suddenly Yohim jerked as if she had been hit, making the boys look up at her.

"You boys stay here, and do not dare to follow me."

She said it with such angry force the children cringed.

Yohim stepped outside and started to walk the path her husband took each morning, and returned the same way in the evenings.

"What have you done?" she asked in a low voice.

"Are you questioning me, woman?" the clan leader of Yoro, Yohim's husband, asked.

"Why are you covered in the blood of others?" Yohim asked.

"I did bath, and change cloths."

"I smell the blood on you."

The man smirked. He was so beautiful, and even more dangerous. His long, black curly hair was mostly tied back, but since it was so thick most of it fell over his shoulders and in his face. When they married he had been so sweet and shy, but still very courageous and honest. But as the years passed he had lost the sweet innocence Yohim had once fallen in love with. Right then she wondered just where he had started to change.

"My dear, beautiful Yohim," he said lowly and stepped closer to her, his orange eyes glistening in the dark. He reached out and touched her cheek tenderly. "I know your gift to foretell the future hasn't failed you."

Yohim stood still, as frozen. He chuckled as he sensed her fear.

"There is a reason I love you, Yohim. There has always been a reason."

"May it be," his wife hissed and hit his hand away. "But I can no longer find the reason I ever married you."

The sound of a fist hitting a face echoed in the night.

"Don't try it," he hissed.

Yohim's nose was bleeding and the flesh under her left eye was starting to turn red from the hit. "I will," she whispered. "Until the day I find a way to stop what's happening I will."

* * *

Mil and Ry looked up as somebody entered the hut, hoping it was Yohim. But to their disappointment it was the clan leader. It was strange really. No one in the entire clan knew of his real name. It was as if it had been erased from everyone's memory. Nowadays the clan members just called him master or Shi.

Shi lay down on his bed and fell asleep right away. The brothers waited for Yohim to return, listening for the safe sound of her light, confident footsteps. They waited until none of them knew how late it was, and slowly they faded into the world of dreams.

At daybreak Mil jerked awake. The clan leader was awakening and went to do his morning rites. The older of the children looked at the bed for Yohim, only to find she wasn't there.

'Did she leave early?' he thought, but almost immediately realized that wasn't the case. Yohim had never come back.

Ry awoke when the clan leader closed the door when he left for wherever he headed during the days.

"Ma Yoro?"

No answer. They looked at each other, worried about what had happened and where Yohim had gone to. She had dared them to follow her when she left, but what if she never came back…

When they were sure Shi was long gone the boys rushed out of the hut in search for their adoptive mother.

"Ma Yoro!" Mil called over the field where she usually worked, but the field was empty.

"Old Jinna, where's Ma Yoro?" Ry asked the clan's healer, who were out collecting herbs.

The old woman looked at them with pain in her fading eyes. "Take over her work on thy fields today," was all she said.

"No!" Ry yelled. "Not until Ma Yoro comes back. We won't work until she's around again!"

"Fools!" the old woman yelled. "Ye're too young! Ye don't understand."

"We'll look for Ma Yoro till we find her!" Ry yelled back.

Old Jinna raised her hand to slap the stubborn boy, but a stronger hand stopped her.

"That's enough."

Old Jinna looked up into Kaio's ice blue eyes, and cringed. Kaio may still be young, but she was much stronger than she looked like and lacked all sense of respect towards the old people's ways of teaching children to know their place.

"Kaio, Ma Yoro…"

Mil was silenced by the older girl's icy glare.

"Go back to what you were doing, Old Jinna. I will take care of her children for now."

Old Jinna walked away as fast as her old legs would carry her, eager to get away from the ice eyed girl.

"Where's Ma Yoro?" Mil asked stubbornly.

"Take a rake and help me on the fields."

"Not until…"

"Yohim isn't here," Kaio hissed, tears forming in her eyes, scaring the two boys. "Just… take the rakes and help me work. Please."

It wasn't often Kaio said please, but today she looked really upset and wouldn't look the boys in the eyes when she talked.

Slowly, hesitating, Mil and Ry did what they were told.

That night, after Kaio had told them to go home, Mil and Ry followed Yohim's cousin. They were surprised to see her walk into the healer's tent, and even more surprised to see old Jinna hurry out of it and walk away while talking to herself.

Mil decided to go straight in and ask Kaio what was going on. If Kaio had been sick or hurt, old Jinna wouldn't have run off. The old hag was a bitch, but she never refused to help anybody. Ry held onto his older brother's shirt and followed him into the gloom of the tent.

Kaio looked up at them with surprise, and then in anger.

"Go away," she hissed.

Too late. The brothers had already seen what Kaio and old Jinna had tried to hide from them. On a mattress of dry hay lay Yohim, bruised and swollen. Kaio had been changing bandages when the kids came so her face and body was exposed, as well as the many bruises on them.

"Ma Yoro," Ry whispered.

Yohim must have heard him, for she opened her one fresh eye and looked at them.

"You shouldn't have come," she whispered. "I didn't want you to see me like this."

Mil's eyes suddenly widened. "It was him," he said weakly. "The clan leader hurt you."

Yohim sighed painfully and Kaio immediately started bandaging her wounds again.

"I wish you could have stayed out of this," Yohim said. "Then you would've been saved so much fear. I know you fear my husband enough already. And truth to be told, so do I."

"I can't believe that guy," Kaio said lowly. "What in heaven and earth's name made him such a jerk? He who used to be so sweet. I used to envy you, Yohim, for having such a perfect man for a husband."

Yohim didn't say anything in a while and the brothers sat down near their adoptive mother, without being in the way of Kaio's tending hands.

"I can't bear his children," Yohim said when Kaio was done. "I think that was a great disappointment for him. But he said there is a reason he loves me, that there always will be a reason. And I'm afraid to know what that reason is."

"But isn't it a good thing?" Ry asked carefully. "To have a reason to love?"

Yohim drew a shaking breath. "Love is unreasonable. You can't decide who to love, like you can't decide who is your brother or sister, or even who are your parents. Someone once told me… that our lives are filled with choices. But at the same time there are so many things we can't rule. We can't choose what to feel about the people around us, like we can't choose when to fall ill or get into an accident. To have a reason of love… my husband has something in mind that involves me… and it is not for good."

Silence ruled for a long time, until old Jinna suddenly entered the tent with a jar in her arms. "Here ye go," she said and carelessly dropped it in Kaio's arms. "If ye're so eager to do my work, then do it."

"You should be careful when you go to town next time, Jinna," Yohim said softly. "Somebody wants to hurt you."

"Be quiet ye little fox. I don't care if ye're that man's wife, ye should know yer place."

"I don't want you to die," Yohim said. But the old woman wouldn't listen. She just snorted and muttered something about giving a real lesson in respect and went out again.

"Does somebody actually want to hurt Jinna?" Mil whispered.

"Old Jinna's way of demanding respect will come back to hunt her. I have tried to warn her for a long time. By this time tomorrow she will regret she never listened."

"Will she die?" Ry whispered fearfully.

"If nobody saves her I'm afraid she will. I must say I can not see if she will die or not."

Mil and Ry looked at each other, but Kaio's eyes suddenly lit up in realization.

"You have the gift of seeing the future," she whispered.

"It is… no gift," Yohim breathed and fell asleep.

Mil, Ry and Kaio slept by her side that night, to old Jinna's vexation. She didn't like sharing her tent with healthy people.

* * *

The next morning Yohim was up walking again, though both Jinna's and Kaio's protests.

"I will do no good lying around anymore," Yohim said firmly. "I'm only bruised and nothing is broken. So get off my back and get back to work."

Mil and Ry didn't argue. They were more than happy to see Yohim's strong, confident face again, after being so afraid the day before that she was gone. They both worked more than they had to that day out of pure happiness. Yohim smiled and laughed at them and made sure to cook their favourite food for dinner.

After dinner they returned to their work, but suddenly Yohim stopped and looked towards the direction of the road leading to Dracul's castle.

Dracul was the king of Walachia, and an evil one at that. He loved to torture his prisoners and rumours said he dined in his execution garden where bodies hung on poles. Even the executors feared him and that place.

"Ma Yoro?" Ry said, tugging at her skirt.

"What is it?" Kaio asked.

"Travellers," Yohim said and started walking down the road.

The three younger followed her until she stopped. Yohim's long braid moved in the wind and her colourful cloths seemed to dance around her slim body. Kaio caught herself thinking her cousin looked like a strong guardian where she stood.

It took a few minutes before they heard the sound of horses and wagons coming up the road, and once they were in sight it was obvious they were frightened. The horses wanted to flee, but were held back by four strong men who fought to suppress their own fear. The travellers had visited the king Dracul, that much was for sure.

Yohim stepped forward as the horses came closer and help up a hand in greeting. She almost shone with a safe and confident light. The horses stopped and the travellers turned to look at her.

"In the absence of my husband I greet you to this land," Yohim said with clear and steady voice.

Kaio and the children stared as the horses, just by the sound of Yohim's voice, calmed down and stopped awkward and stood still in front of her. Even the travellers seemed to relax slightly in Yohim's presence. A middle-aged man stepped down from the first wagon and walked up to Yohim.

"I greet you, fair lady," he said, rising his hand. "We are travellers from north who seek a place to call a home."

Yohim's brown eyes were steady on the man as she answered. "Then, with a heavy heart, I must ask you to leave. Under Dracul's ruling hand this land is no place for the young ones of yours, or even mine, to grow up."

"Then we hope we can at least stay for one day to rest from a long journey."

The gypsies drew closer to their leader. Ry peeped out from behind Yohim's skirts, Mil grabbed her hand and Kaio laid a hand on her cousin's steady shoulder.

"Stay for one day and one night," Yohim started as she looked upon the other travellers watching them, "and you will lose three women and one man in your company."

The travellers gasped and whispered with each other. Yohim looked her gaze at those four she knew would not be there the next day. All of them were young, and one of the women was pregnant.

"You should leave while you can," Kaio said, her blue eyes determined. "Ma Yoro is never wrong."

"Give us protection," an old woman called. "Give us your protection. We can pay you, but give us your protection."

Yohim's straight face calmly met the woman's demand. It was obvious this old lady was used to be obeyed.

"Travel west and cross the river before sunset," she said. "That is all the protection I can give."

The old woman's eyes flashed with anger. She was old and worn, and she wanted to rest. She was about to start yelling at the younger woman standing in their way when Kaio suddenly stepped in between them.

"Ma Yoro knows this land and how to protect the people. Our men are no soldiers who can protect you from the king or anything else. Listen to her words and you will be protected. Disobey and waste the lives of your family."

Even Yohim was surprised, but smiled in gratitude for her cousin's interruption. Kaio's ice stare and confident voice would be enough to scare a demon into obeying.

One of the younger women stepped up to the gypsies. She had long golden blonde hair and honey brown eyes. "I will follow your suggestion and take my family west, so please take this as a taken of my gratitude for your advice." She held out a silver cross with a sapphire in each edge. "You are meant to bear it," she added lowly.

Yohim nodded and took the cross in her hands. As she did the stones started to shine and the silver gleamed as if made this same morning. Immediately the travellers' stares changed and they whispered together, staring wide-eyed at Yohim, a gypsy woman who had just by touching the cross had made it glow.

The young woman bowed to Yohim, a simple, graceful movement. "My name is Jona, one who will be reborn with you."

Yohim immediately knew this young woman was the fortune-teller of this travelling party, one with a gift that ran deeper than hers.

"I will remember your name, young Jona. Now leave, travel fast, and pass the river before sunset."

Jona nodded and her honey brown eyes gleamed with gratitude before she turned back to the still whispering travellers. "Get back into the wagons and head west. If we fail passing the river before sunset there will only be blood left of those to be killed."

When the wagons left Yohim and the others went back to their daily work. But when the evening came a young boy, only a few years older than Mil, came running to Yohim with a frightened expression.

"M-ma Yoro. It's old Jinna."

Yohim hushed at him, making him draw deep breaths so that he could talk clearly. "What is it with old Jinna?" Yohim asked softly, part of her already knowing what he was about to say.

"In the village, she got into a fight… she's dead."

Mil, Ry and Kaio looked at each other, but Yohim sighed deeply. "I tried to warn her, but she refused to listen. And since she had no apprentice… Kaio, I must ask you to take over her work as our clan's healer. At least for now."

* * *

Two years passed since that day, and each day Yohim's husband returned home the darkness within him had grown even stronger. Yohim, strong and safe, stood up to him, but thanks to the cross he could never hurt her again. It would explode with light that knocked him out cold, and in the morning he would have forgotten what had happened.

Mil and Ry grew stronger each day. Mil proved to be good with knives and therefore took over much of the cooking. When he thought no one saw though he would practice throwing handmade stone knives at wood targets.

Ry was practicing archery. An art that many of the other gypsies of their own and other clans saw as unnecessary and improper for such a young boy. But try as they may to convince Yohim to teach him a more proper hobby, she just wouldn't listen to them. That she knew all about Mil's knife practice too she never mentioned, but couldn't help but smirk a little when she caught him, without his notice, as he practiced in the woods when he was supposed to bring firewood to the stove. She let both the boys be, for in the faint picture she had of her future, they would both need their skills, so she wouldn't stop them.

And the time when the brothers would be in need of their abilities would come soon.

"You're coming with me to the castle tomorrow," Shi said when he entered the hut one moonless night.

Mil and Ry cringed at the sound of his voice, but Yohim didn't move an inch. "Why is that?" she asked calmly without looking at him.

"I know you already know," Shi almost spat as he passed the three on his way to his bed.

"What about the children?" the gypsy woman asked as she filled a bowl with stew for her husband. "Here's your food."

"They're not our children."

"They are mine."

"Did you give birth to them?"

"You know I didn't."

"Then you can leave them as easy as you took them in. They never belonged in my house anyway."

"Since you're never here you have no right to claim the house as your own. It is mine and their home too, darling."

Shi looked up at his wife with fire in his gaze, but Yohim wouldn't waver. But when the clan leader suddenly sneered she had to suppress the cold shivers running down her spine. "Then take them with you, if they are so important to you."

Yohim just bowed her head slightly, not showing she was afraid, and went to put the boys to bed.

"Ma Yoro," Ry whispered. "Why does he want you to go to Dracul?"

"Hush now. You must sleep now so you can wake up on time tomorrow. I will need you there."

Mil said nothing, but his eyes spoke more than any words. Yohim couldn't stand looking into those deep, purple eyes.

"Please sleep now. I will still be here when you wake up." 'Merciful God, please protect us.' she thought silently. Under her cloths the cross glimmered, hearing her deep wish.

* * *

The next morning, just when the east sky was shifting shades from deep blue to grey, pink and gold Yohim shook the brothers awake. It was time to leave.

Ry and Mil held on to Yohim's strong hands as if their lives depended on it. Little did they know they did. Because they were only children and too much was going on for them to understand, and Yohim could hardly tell them. She sure didn't want to take them along, but she had no choice. If she wanted to survive she had to bring them. All she could do in return was to protect them the best she could and hope with all her heart someone would save them.

The castle rose from the earth like a false mountain, big and dark. The sky was covered in heavy, grey clouds that promised rain during the day. To Mil and Ry it looked like a hungry monster just waiting to devour them. Yohim had seen this looming monster too many times to count, and she was more scared of what waited for them inside than the castle's dangerous appearance.

The guards let them pass, obviously knowing the clan leader of Yoro very well, but their eyes hungrily took in Yohim's well built body, something she fought to ignore with all her might. Mil and Ry was as good as completely hidden in her long skirts.

Yohim's husband led them through seemingly endless dark, moist and echoing corridors that smelled like they hadn't been cleaned in many years. Every here and there mildew covered the walls, spreading such a disgusting smell it made all but Shi hold their breaths.

At last they reached the throne room.

"I have arrived, master Dracul," the clan leader of Yoro said and kneeled in front of the king. Yohim and the boys had their eyes concentrated on the ground, knowing they had no right to talk or move without Dracul's allowance. They heard how the king clicked his tongue in delight.

"A fine woman indeed," the king said. "The finest I have seen this far. Her name?"

"Yohim, master. Yohim Yoro."

"Your wife?"

"Yes, master."

"And _her_ only relative?"

Yohim's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat as Kaio's image flashed through her mind.

"Yes master," Shi said once again.

The king made a satisfied sound. "Good. Take her in."

Mil and Ry gasped as a side door opened and Kaio was pushed into the room by three guards, all of them two times her size. Kaio's cloths were torn, her hair was messy and her dirty face had bruises on her left cheek and forehead. Though her battled appearance she still struggled against the guards and yelled at them to let her go.

"Kaio!" Ry called, drawing attention to him.

The brunette turned her head and her eyes, filled with hurt pride and anger, immediately brimmed with tears. She fought off the surprised guards and ran straight into Yohim's waiting arms.

"Whose children?" the king asked.

"Mine since my sister's death," Yohim answered before her husband could come up with an answer, and she couldn't care less her outburst could have her killed then and there. Luckily for her right then the king had other plans for her.

"Very well, it does not matter too much anyway. I simply called you here to bless the engagement between me and sweet Kaio.

Yohim's heart froze to ice and almost stopped in pure horror. Give Kaio away to the king? Her husband had planned this? This was why he had told her to come with him?

"Don't!"

Everyone looked at Kaio who desperately clung to her cousin's skirt.

"I beg of you, don't let them take me. I hate this place. I want to go home. Take me back home. Don't go away and leave me here. This is hell. I hate it here. I beg you, Yohim, don't let him take me."

"Noisy woman," Shi hissed and was about to grab Kaio to throw her at the king's feet, but once again Yohim was faster. She lifted Kaio up bridal style and held her close.

"I'm taking my cousin with me back to the village. I refuse to give any kind of blessing if either part is unwilling to the engagement. Therefore I will leave."

"You do not fear death, woman?" the king asked so smoothly even the clan leader shivered to the bone.

"Why should I fear something as natural as death?" Yohim asked calmly, turned and left.

"Kill them," she heard the king order his guards.

Mil reacted first. He took out one of the knives he had made and threw it at the first guard approaching them. The guard looked down at his chest where only the handle was visible. Mil was petrified, but he never saw the man die. Yohim dragged him along as she darted through the throne room into the corridor they had come from.

The brothers were both used runners, so once they realized they had to run for their lives they did. Yohim could only keep up with them because of her much longer legs.

Another guard stepped into view right in front of them with a bow half ready to aim at them, but Yohim had strong legs and was sure to put them to use. She jumped and the man's face collided with her knee, knocking him out cold.

"Ry, the bow!"

The young boy didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed bow and arrows and rushed after his adoptive mother with hell itself in his heels.

"These things coming now are not alive," Yohim gasped to the boys. "Do what you can. Right now I need your protection."

The brothers looked at each other, both a little confused, but at the same time determined to protect the woman whom had protected them since their parents died.

"Here they come. Ry!"

The bow was too long for Ry to go down on his knees to steady himself, but he didn't have the time to either way. He skidded and aimed the bow horizontally, firing it before he actually came to a halt. What happened next surprised them all so greatly they _had_ to stop.

Ry's arrow flew in a flash of light that lit up the entire corridor, and the light itself took down more of the creatures in front of them than the actual arrow.

"Ry?"

"We have no time to be impressed. We must get out of here," Yohim said and started running again, Kaio still in her arms. The poor girl had been in the castle the whole night. Dracul's guards had come to bring her to him, and she had fought against them the entire night. She was too drained to notice much of what was going on around her. All she actually could do was clinging onto Yohim's safe body with the last of her strength.

Yohim, Mil and Ry ran for their lives trying their best to find a way out. Yohim tried to use her ability of future telling, but she had never really had a hold of how to do it, so it was very limited. Still it helped them avoid the king's worst traps.

"There's a window up ahead with a heap of hey below. We must jump," Yohim gasped. She was out of breath and her heart was beating so hard it hurt against her ribs. The only thing keeping her running was pure adrenaline.

"What window?" Mil yelled as three of them came into view.

"The left one, closest to Ry. Now jump!"

Yohim was out of the window first and fell through the air down two floors. Landing on her back with Kaio on top she felt how at least two ribs broke and how her hard beating heart fell out of rhythm. She heard how Mil and Ry landed somewhere around her, but her vision was blurry form pain and she had a hard time breathing.

"Ma Yoro!"

Yohim knew what she had to do. She couldn't carry Kaio another inch, and the boys had no chance of carrying both her and defend themselves at the same time.

"Kaio, you must run."

The brunette had been as good as unconscious when they jumped out of the window, but now she woke up.

"Yohim?"

"I can't carry you any longer. Mil and Ry can support you, but you must run on your own now. It's not far to the gate anyway."

"Mother?"

"Run for it. I'm coming."

It was very hesitating and with much confirmation from Yohim the three of them left the clan leader's wife to catch her breath. Truth to be told Yohim only wanted them away from her because she was bleeding. She knew since long ago the monsters of Dracul's lived of blood. By leaving her behind Kaio, Mil and Ry wouldn't attract half as much attention.

"I will come," Yohim rasped with what little voice she had left. Now she only had one thing left to defend herself, and now when she had both arms free she could use it.

Yohim took out the cross hanging around her neck and held it like a sword, hoping for dear life it would be enough to protect both herself and those she loved.

Dracul's monsters, in the shade of the now stormy sky, dived at her.

With all the power she possessed Yohim wielded the cross as if it really was a sword, sending a wave of pure energy towards the sky. What had meant to kill her disappeared in the wave, leaving Yohim with a thought of gratitude towards Jona.

But she had no more time to rest. The gypsy woman half-heartedly shook the hay out of her cloths and started running towards the drawbridge.

Dashing through the courtyard she saw Kaio and the boys fighting off some guards. She also noticed the bridge was up, but for the moment she couldn't think as usual. The moves of her arms weren't her own. It was just like some greater power had taken over her tired body and mind.

Kaio and the boys didn't really know what happened. One moment they tried to fight off the king's guards, and the next the men fell like they just fainted. Mil was the first to notice Yohim.

"Ma Yoro! We can't get out!"

"We _will_ get out of here!" Yohim yelled, dashing towards the thick chain keeping the bridge up and used the power of the cross to cut it off.

The heavy drawbridge fell with a deafening boom. "Run for it!"

When the four friends had finally passed the bridge, many guards and monsters in their heels, Yohim suddenly spun around, aiming her gaze at the dark castle.

"I won't allow you to take them," she whispered to the king's eyes she had locked her gaze with.

"Yohim!"

"**MOTHER!"**

The gypsy used both her hands and aimed her cross towards the sky.

A powerful beam of light, created by Yohim's wish to protect, hit the dark clouds hanging low over the earth, clearing the sky from them and bringing down the bright light of the noon sun. Just like the king had created the storm with the power of the devil, Yohim had cleared the sky with the power of God.

Screams from the monsters filled the air when the sunlight hit them, burning them to ashes. Even the guards ducked under the bright light and retreated back into the darkness of the castle.

Yohim stood still in the sunlight for a moment, sending her heart's gratitude to Jona and to God. But she knew this moment to breathe would only last till nightfall. But right now she needed rest. So Yohim, tired, relieved and wounded fainted right then and there.

* * *

It was a pair of very anxious blue eyes that met her brown ones a few hours before sunset. Then the blue depths flashed with mixed emotions, relief and anger among them.

"You stupid, overprotective, lying piece of… woman," Kaio hissed and started to change the bandages covering Yohim's chest. She had been crying the whole day, and had no more water to turn to tears. "The boys are sleeping. They've been watching you all day, refusing to eat, so I knocked them out."

Kaio sniffed, but angrily shook her head so that she could stay angry. After all, it was much easier to be angry than sad. Much easier.

"I am only a human," Yohim said.

"That's right," Kaio accused. "A human. A small human trying to fight powers much greater than I can understand. I can't tell how you managed to clear the sky from clouds and rain, but it was not your doing in the first place. So, as the Yoro clan's healer, I demand you to stay in bed until your ribs have healed."

Yohim sighed and smiled sadly. "If I obey, we will all be dead before sunrise," she mumbled.

"I'm not listening," Kaio said loudly as she crushed herbs to make her cousin a painkiller.

Yohim watched her younger cousin, who worked furiously with herbs and bandages and refused to believe anything Yohim had to say about the future or death.

"It is like a story," Yohim said softly. "Even if you stop listening it won't change the outcome."

"Stop it! I don't want to hear it!"

"Only will can not change what is happening."

"Stop!"

"There is nothing anybody can do to stop the sun from setting."

"Don't say anymore!"

"But only I shall die tonight."

"_**I TOLD YOU TO STOP!"**_

Mil and Ry jerked awake from Kaio's furious scream and the sound of a bowl hitting the ground and shattering. They looked up at the brunette who stood, trembling from head to toe, staring at Yohim with tears flowing like rivers down her cheeks.

"I don't want to hear it," Kaio said, her voice small and thin. "I don't want to hear I must live without you." Her voice hardly carried. "I don't want to hear what I already know." Yohim looked at her, but wouldn't waver in her decision. "I don't want to hear you talk so lightly about death." Mil and Ry's eyes widened in horror. "I don't want to hear… that you will die."

Kaio's dam broke and she fell to the ground crying like a small child. Yohim, against her body's painful protests, sat up and crawled over to her, placing her cousin's head in her lap. Kaio just continued to cry loudly. Mil and Ry soon joined them, both of them crying because Kaio did, and because of what she had just said.

"It is my fault this is happening," Yohim said softly, making Kaio's and the boys' wet eyes look up at her. "I was the one who supported my husband when he did not want to go to Dracul for reasons I have forgotten. And I supported him to go visit him again and again. Too late I realized what I did was breaking my husband apart from inside out. He no longer loves me. He hates me. That is why I must face him once again, to pray him to forgive me by ending his suffering. That is what I must do. Because this is happening because of me."

* * *

_Yohim opened her sad eyes, Yuniko and Yugi along with her._

"_I couldn't save him," Yohim's voice whispered. "All I could do in order to save those still alive was to seal them all away. My husband had become Dracul. Dracul had become my husband. But sealing them away took my last stand of life energy. I remember I was crying during the entire battle. My eyes cried in shame for what I was guilty of, my heart cried for someone, anyone, to answer my prayer and save my husband. God answered my prayer by telling me to seal them all away, far away, to a place where my heart would later lead my soul into rebirth."_

"_What happened to Kaio and the boys?"_

_Yohim smiled sadly. "When I died my body turned to stone. My wounded soul watched in the morning light how they came to me. Then Jona returned. She told them what I had done. Mil asked her if they could follow me to where I would be reborn. Jona had amazing powers. She used them all, with the help of my blood that was all over the place, to tie their souls to mine which still stood there watching them. She died soon after, and when she did she joined me, a lonely soul unable to go on. She said: __**I do not want you to be lonely. God does not want you to be lonely, so he sent me to you, to take your hand so you won't be lonely anymore**__."_

"_But the second Battle Princess failed as well," Yugi said softly. "She, you, died once again in attempt to end what you started."_

"_To me it has not yet happened."_

_Yohim looked up at them. "The seal has not been completely broken. Dracul can not break free. But my husbands feelings are being passed down to the one who since birth loves me most of all. His feelings of betrayal and hatred are being passed to someone most important to you."_

_Yuniko's eyes widened in pure horror. "Brother."_


	29. Battle Princess of Scotland

Hi, readers (the 15 to 20 I know I have). I know I'm a day later than usual (becuse I forgot to update this yesterday) but better late than never my grandfather used to say (when he was alive).

A lot more will be revealed in this chapter, but I think I've done something wrong somewhere. If you find it, tell me so I can correct it.

So without more rambling from me, please read and enjoy (and review)

* * *

**The Battle Princess of Scotland**

Yuniko's eyes snapped open. Her heart was running a mile ahead of her, beating hard enough to hurt.

She sat up, pale and wide-eyed. "Brother," she whispered. "My dear brother. What have I done? I have sent you straight to Hell. Oh brother. My dear, dear brother."

A sound beside her made the upset girl turn her head and found Malin sleeping on the floor with her head and arms resting on the bed.

Yuniko had to take a deep breath forcing herself to calm down. "Dear God in Heaven. Help me. What do I do now?"

Yugi's transparent face suddenly appeared in front of her, his slim form sitting on the bedside. _First things first_, he told her with a smile. _We will help you save your brother._

Yuniko smiled in gratitude. 'Thank you.'

_First of all you have a kingdom to protect and people who will do anything to protect their friend and queen._

'Then what do I do? I will not survive this war. It has already begun.'

_True,_ Yohim said, her see-through spirit standing by the window. _But I watched what happened to my loved ones after my death. I died to protect them, but my death only resulted in their pain._

_Yes,_ Yugi said lowly. _It is selfish to hide the truth. But it's even more selfish to just die and leave the ones who love you behind, unable to do anything to save you._

Yuniko nodded her head. Somewhere in her heart she knew what they meant, but she had already denied any kind of help. She had betrayed her own brother, Aku was dead and the summer was soon over. Everything talked against her.

_Let them do something for you,_ Yohim said softly. _They ask for no more but to help you._

Yuniko looked down at Malin, still sleeping, and noticed her nurse had stains of tears on her cheeks. She felt sharp pang of guilt in her gut, now understanding what her past and future tried to say.

"I will let them help me. But I can not let them fight for me." And as soon as she said those words out loud Yuniko's mind started to work. She sat up and placed Malin's head in her lap, patting her head in thought. Yohim and Yugi were already gone, back to where they had been all the time. Yohim's life affected hers, and many facts had been revealed. This would mean a lot for the kingdom in the future. Ryouko and Kyoko had abilities they didn't know about yet. She could trust in Mokuba to keep it all together, he had fast feet and a good head.

One fact revealed another and showed a picture of her loved ones she hadn't even thought about before. She didn't even notice Malin woke up.

The nurse was surprised to find herself in the queen's lap, and even more so to find her friend pat her head. But what surprised her most was when she looked up at the queen's face. Yuniko's eyes were blind for what was in front of her, but they saw much more, and her lips beneath her thoughtful finger slowly tugged into a smile.

"Milady?"

Yuniko flinched at the sound of a voice and looked down into Malin's purple eyes. One last fact clicked and she smiled broadly and couldn't stop herself from bending down and place a kiss on her surprised nurse's forehead. "Thank you."

Malin only gaped at her queen.

"Come, help me dress. I have a lot to do before summer is over. And even if autumn will not be pleasant, I will need help. A lot of help."

Malin stared, but her mind came to the conclusion that whatever had bothered Yuniko was now solved, or would be solved in a near future.

* * *

"Your majesty?"

"You all heard me. Once summer is over and the nights become longer the vampires will be over us in no time. The vampire lord, who goes under the name of Sanguis, is not hurt by the sun, and I have reasons to believe he can make the darkness of night even darker."

"But your majesty. Why do you refuse to let the soldiers prepare for war?"

"Because humans can not fight vampires," the queen said sternly. "Right now I only inform you of what I know about the vampires and the future. When autumn is here I have an important decision to make, and I must make it _without_ your influence, Mr. Hem, for I know what you will want me to do. Right now I have a kingdom to protect. That is my first and last priority."

"Of course, we understand, your majesty. But the soldiers-"

"Will be needed elsewhere. The issue of the vampires will not be mentioned again unless I do so myself. Scotland must be informed about her enemies and how she can protect herself when I am not there."

Honda couldn't help but stare at his queen. She had always been fair towards the people and the council, but he had never seen her this determined before. When she had made up her mind it had always been hard, but not impossible, to make her change her mind since she always listened to her advisors. But now she wouldn't even let her council talk back.

"Your majesty, can I at least ask you where the soldiers will be needed?" the brunette asked carefully.

"If I fail they will be needed to protect the people," the queen said, but then she smiled. "But I will not fail. All I need now is your cooperation and help. I will need all of you to help me protect my kingdom and my people. I will not order you as your queen, but I ask you as your friend to help me protect what is so dear to me."

The men, Malin, Ryouko, Kyoko and Mokuba all stared at the queen and then at each other.

"You can always count on us," Kyoko said, holding her white sister's arm, daring the older to deny.

"As if I would ever let you go, Yuni," Malin said, smiling teasingly. "I have a promise to keep, remember?"

"I will run to Scotland's every house and hut if you asked me, Yuni," Mokuba said and hugged the queen's waist.

"I never thought I would hear the queen ask for help," Joey said lowly, before his face broke in a bright grin. "Count me in."

Honda looked at the rest of the council. They all smiled and nodded. "We are here to serve you. We can certainly not let our little girl down."

Yuniko smiled brightly, happily. "Thank you all. Now. Midsummer is closing in. We shall start the preparations."

* * *

Summer seemed to pass too quickly. The queen seemed stronger and safer than she ever had before. Mokuba took the lead of the castle's messengers that were sent to Scotland's every corner with messages to the people about the vampires, what they were, what they wanted and how each man, child and woman could protect themselves. They were all asked to believe in the queen's strength, that she would protect them as well as she could, and the messengers were sent back with words of gratitude or worry for the safety of themselves and her. Some would send their sons to the white castle to join the army to help the monarch, and they were all welcomed by the queen herself.

"I am grateful you have come, and I will not deny I am in need of strong men who can defend my people when I alone am not enough. My friend and head guard Adam will be in charge of your training, then I must send you back in groups of ten to each town." At this she was met by protests, but she would only raise a hand to make them stop. "It is not me who is in need of protection, but my people; you. I can protect myself with those few men I have around me."

The new recruits would soon find out what she meant by that. Yuniko was often training with her soldiers to keep herself in good shape, though there were only four who stood a slight chance against her; Joey, Adam, Malin and Kyoko. It was a great surprise even for the queen. Kyoko had a lithe and agile body and used it more than any of the weapons she had in hand. Though where she had learnt to move and kick like she did stayed her secret.

Ryouko had trained hard with her archery and was surprised herself to find she was one of the very best in the entire castle, even among the new arrivals that lived with the bow as pillow. Joey, Adam and many of the older soldiers kept an eye on the girls, making sure they were safe from younger men's approaches and seductions.

_They all take care of each other,_ Yohim said satisfied.

_And Joey's like everyone's big brother, no one is feeling alone,_ Yugi said softly.

'Yes,' Yuniko thought. 'I will need every last one of them.'

Yugi's green eyes locked with the queen's as she stared at her reflection in a window as she watched the training below. _But you are worried they will find out about your plans?_

Yuniko swallowed hard. Lies were nothing she was good at, though she had become quite a bit good in hiding the truth behind another truth, but not for someone part of her own mind.

'I know so well what is about to happen if I let anyone from outside help me with this weight. And I am afraid.'

Yugi's gentle face smiled sadly. _You are only a human. Don't try to be more than that._

'But I must carry the fate of so many people on my shoulders.'

Invisible arms wrapped around her neck from behind and a soft cheek pressed against hers. _You think so because you know the whole truth,_ Yugi said softly with a voice as soft as summer rain. _Each human carry a truth of their own; their pasts, their feelings, thoughts they never share… You know your own truth, our truths. But you don't know much about the truth that is our brother's. Wait and see. Things will turn out alright. You don't have to give your all for all and every human you see. For we are only humans ourselves._

Yuniko raised a hand to return the embrace, but only met the locket around her neck.

"Milady?"

Yuniko spun around startled at the sound of a voice behind her and came face to face with a concerned Malin. "Malin, you startled me."

"Forgive me, Milady. But you should come and eat now. Solomon is worried about you since you do not eat properly anymore."

"Oh, I am sorry. Let us leave then."

Malin watched Yuniko's back with sadness as her friend moved towards the small dining room. She had seen how the ruler touched the golden locket, the one she had received as a birthday gift from her brother the night he died. She understood Yuniko still missed her older brother, but there were nothing she could do. Yuniko had asked for help, and though Malin did everything the queen asked of her and though Yuniko smiled and thanked her, she felt it wasn't enough. She wanted to do more. She wanted to share the queen's burden, not be a part of it.

* * *

It was midnight when Yuniko jolted awake from a sharp pain in her chest. For a second she wondered if someone had just stabbed her, but when she felt no blade in her body or another presence than Malin's in the room she realized a vampire had crossed her barrier using brute force. She realized Atemu, Aku and the others had used some kind of spell to get into her barrier without hurting her.

Yuniko whimpered in pain as more of them entered the barrier, waking Malin.

"Milady?"

Yuniko held her chest and couldn't even start to pretend nothing was wrong. The pain was so sharp, so physical, and for each that entered the barrier the pain grew stronger until she had a hard time breathing.

"Yuni! What is wrong? What is happening?"

Yuniko grabbed her nurse, trying to talk but only gasped for air and whimpered in pain.

"Yuni!?"

"They are coming…"

Malin's eyes widened when she understood the weight of those words. Never had the vampires managed to cause the queen this kind of pain before. She was out the door calling for the guards to wake those who were asleep and gather on the courtyard. "The vampires are coming! The queen is suffering as they enter the barrier!"

Ryouko and Kyoko peeked out from their rooms when Malin rushed by screaming her warnings. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

In her room Yuniko focused all her willpower on picking her mind together enough for her to use the magic of the cross around her neck and create some kind of barrier around her, protecting her from the pain and clearing her mind. She fell out of bed in a rather disgraceful heap.

"Merciful God," she whispered as she, gasping for air tried to crawl over to her door, knowing exactly what Malin was doing. Her nurse was in panic and did the first thing coming to her mind; calling for help. "My lord, give me strength, protect my people. Save us all from the threat coming towards us."

Her window opened wide in a sudden burst of air. On the dark sky she could see the even darker shadows of her enemies, one green eye glowing as it caught her gaze. It was Crow.

Yuniko could hear her soldiers gathering on the courtyard in attempt to protect their queen.

"No," she whispered in despair. "Do you not know what you are doing? You are food for them! You are giving yourself to them freely. Merciful God, help me."

A soft, familiar and calming squeak was heard inside of her, and then the cry of Sky who stood in the open window, waiting for her to do something. He spread his wings wide and left the window to circle over the soldiers on the ground.

A memory surfaced in Yuniko's mind, her heart pounding and eyes widening. Then all hesitation vanished, turned into determination as she grabbed her sword and jumped out of the window after her winged friend. Sky caught the sheathed sword the queen held over her head and glided down with the Battle Princess hanging in his claws. Beneath them Unicorn broke out of the stable, rushing away to catch her mistress when Sky lowered from above.

Her nightgown, her messy hair, her bare feet and arms. Everything changed in a flash of holy light and dressed the Battle Princess in the pale blue dress with darker blue sleeves and midnight blue ribbon at her back. She elegantly landed on Unicorn's back as the mare leaped into the air to catch her. The soldiers stopped at the sight of the Battle Princess coming to their rescue from above. Yuniko had never been more impressive.

The vampires dove for her, but Sky, protected by his father's spirit, attacked first, surrounded by a golden light. Unicorn's horn sparkled and a flash of lightning hit one of the dark monsters in the sky. The Battle Princess stood on the white unicorn's back and wielded her holy sword, sending a wave of light onto those who were out to hurt her.

Whispers and stares followed the fight between the world's most powerful woman and the pure evil from north.

"That is the Battle Princess!" Joey whispered, mostly to himself. He had never seen his queen as anybody else than the one she was; a strong, warm woman who was his friend. But this was not the same teenager queen that ruled Scotland from the white castle. This was the Battle Princess who protected the people. Those who stood beside him picked up his whisper and the word spread among the soldiers.

Yuniko heard nothing of what her soldiers whispered about her. Her eyes were locked at the enemies of her kingdom, and especially the glowing green eye that watched her intently from the great wall where he had landed.

It didn't take long for Yuniko and her two friends to defeat those who were attacking her. Everything stilled when the last flying creature landed in the mud to never rise again. Yuniko still stood on Unicorn's back and Sky lowered to rest on his mistress's shoulder. The Battle Princess herself kept her challenging blue eyes at Crow.

"You never fail to impress me, Battle Princess," Crow said smoothly. He spread his wings and lowered to the ground. Scotland's soldiers started forward, but were stopped by their queen's hand.

"Tell me, Crow of the vampire tribe. Why do you attack me now?"

Crow stood with a smirk. He was about twice as large as a normal man, reaching Yuniko's waist as she stood on Unicorn's back. Yuniko had never seen Crow stand upright before and now realized he had been there four hundred years ago. No wonder he was so strong.

"My lord is angry beyond belief. Not only have your strength improved, not only have you stopped to cry, not only have you strengthened the barrier around your kingdom, not only have you found your ground and stand tall, but you have managed to fulfil Aku's one and only desire and given him the eternal rest meant for the dead."

"I realize Aku was one of few who could enter my barrier on his own. And with him gone you are one mighty vampire poorer."

"True, my love," Crow smirked. "There are now only three of us strong enough to enter your barrier without having to lend strength from our lord."

Yuniko's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. Crow's smirk widened.

"Be prepared, beautiful. Anger the lord further, and we will be here sooner than originally planned."

The vampire had to take flight in a rather disgraceful manner as Unicorn shot a flash at him. Sky screeched at him angrily and Yuniko turned to him, wondering just who had taught him to swear.

* * *

The meeting room was very quiet the next morning as the queen entered. She seated in her high chair with Malin standing behind her and Joey by the door.

"I believe you all have your share of questions to ask me," the queen said calmly. "So ask me."

Glances were exchanged between the councilmen before the eldest decided to ask what they all wondered.

"My queen, you knew the monsters of north were planning an attack?"

"Yes, I believe I told you so, indirectly, a few weeks ago. But I did not suspect they would come this soon. I figured they would wait until the days are shorter, that they wouldn't come before autumn was ending. That would have given me some time to build up Scotland's defences."

"What are you planning, my queen?" Honda asked, looking the monarch directly in the eye.

"I am your queen, Sir Honda, and as such I must protect myself for the sake of my kingdom. I can not let anything happen to me before I have secured the future of Scotland."

"But there is no heir to the throne," one exclaimed. "And if what you suspect comes true and those monsters will be over us at the end of autumn… There is no time to find you a suitable husband, and even less for your majesty to bear the future king."

Yuniko sighed silently. "I do have a man in mind," she said calmly, making everyone stare at her.

Malin's eyes suddenly opened wide in realization. "Oh!"

"That is right. Joey has asked me to marry him. _But_…" she raised a hand to stop the suddenly happy faces and smiles directed at the blushing blond man by the door. "As you say, there is no time for me to bear the future king. Nor is there time for a wedding. We are run out of time and we can not rush things. Even if some things never happened and others did, we would still be short on time. That is our enemy's greatest advantage at the moment."

Sometimes the truth hurt. This time many felt it would be less painful to be executed.

The queen stood, a soft light emerging from her safe being. "I still need your help. I still need your support. I still need your trust and friendship. When the time is right I will know what to do."

'But will you still be with us once that time comes?' Honda asked silently.

* * *

Yuniko called Joey and her half-sisters to her chamber that night. They entered her room in the same manner a prisoner would enter the law court.

"Please do not give me those looks. I do not have bad news."

"The only good news at the time is the number of survivals," Joey muttered bitterly.

Yuniko gave him a painful look, but decided to hit the point directly. "The past is revealed to me."

"The past?" Malin asked.

"You remember what we found in the library a few months ago? When we found the empty bible holding my cross it was revealed to us I am not the first Battle Princess. Lately I have had dreams I can not clearly remember. But a few nights ago the dream cleared. I have gained the memory of the first Battle Princess."

"How can that possibly help us now?" Kyoko wondered. "Past warriors can not possibly come to our rescue when we need them, neither can we change the past and stop what is happening."

"You speak the truth, little Kyoko," Yuniko nodded. "But the past can help in many ways. It is our past acts experiences that have brought us all together."

"That can still not help us, Milady," Ryouko said softly. "Even if we are together now we can not help you in the future."

Yuniko sighed with a smile. "My friends, you are working against me. Please let me talk without interruptions." The others nodded and Yuniko sat down in her favourite chair. "Now, we all know I am reborn from the soul of the first Battle Princess. I will cut the story short. Four hundred years ago there was a gypsy clan in south east of Europe. The king of their country was evil, and enjoyed to be so. The first Battle Princess, commonly known as Ma Yoro, had the power to foretell the future, but she could not control it enough to make a living. Ma Yoro's clan was caught in the country because of the king, and her husband, the clan leader, had to spend a lot of time in his presence. Too late Ma Yoro realized her husband was manipulated by the king.

Yoro saved a group of travellers from the king and was given a silver cross by their fortune-teller." Yuniko touched the exposed silver cross around her neck, making her friends look at it. "The fortune-teller said this would protect Ma Yoro and those she loved. She did not know what the fortune-teller meant by that, but she accepted the gift anyway.

Some time later Ma Yoro was called to the king and brought along her two adoptive sons. The king wished to marry Ma Yoro's cousin, and when she refused they had to run for their lives. What saved them was the cross that cleared the sky from the storm that would not let the sun through.

That same night Ma Yoro, the Battle Princess went to fight the king and her husband, who had now become one. She had hoped to kill them all as a way to gain her husbands forgiveness for her not being able to save him earlier.

The Battle Princess failed to destroy the king, Dracul as was his name, now known as Sanguis, but before she died she managed to seal them all away, here in Scotland."

"And so the Battle Princess was reborn, to finish what she started?" Kyoko said, eyes wide with realization.

"Yes, but she was not reborn alone."

Four pair of wide eyes met her remark.

Yuniko folded her hands neatly on her knees. "The adoptive sons of Ma Yoro and her cousin came to see the battle field in the morning and found the Battle Princess turned to stone. As they stood there the fortune-teller whom had given Ma Yoro the cross suddenly came to them and told them what she knew about the future; that the Battle Princess was to be reborn when the seal began to wear thin. They asked her to be reborn with her, since Ma Yoro was the only family they had. The fortune-teller granted their wish, but died in the progress."

A long silence followed her words, each and every one of the trying to take in and understand what their queen had just told them. Kyoko was quickest.

"So you think three of us are the ones who asked to be reborn with Ma Yoro?"

"I do not think, little Kyoko," Yuniko said with a smile. "I know you are."

"But how can you tell?" Joey asked confused. "And what use do we have of this?"

"I have good use for every piece of information the past has revealed for me," Yuniko said, still confident and final in her words. "Ma Yoro's sons had powers, mighty powers, bound to their souls, and are now owned by two of you. Her cousin may not have had those kinds of powers, but she was a healer and a support to those around her. That will be her purpose here as well."

"Then we come directly to the next problem," Joey said. "How are we going to know who has what power? And what about the last one of us? You only need three, right?"

"Well _that_ is the easiest of my problems," Yuniko smiled. "Because _you_ are the fortune-teller from that time who choose to be reborn with me."

Three pairs of surprised eyes fell on the blond soldier, who had his eyes locked at the queen's with his jaw somewhere beneath the floor.

"How can you tell, Milady?" Malin asked.

"Because of Joey's looks," Yuniko said, nodding. "The fortune-teller had golden blonde hair and honey coloured eyes."

"Yes, that would certainly be you, Joey," Ryouko suddenly smiled. "Most blonds have blue eyes."

"And you are the only honey-eyed blond who is close to the queen," Malin said, snapping her fingers as she understood Yuniko's train of thought.

"I see you understand, Malin."

"Then two of us has been your adoptive sons once," Kyoko said, sending a glance at her sister.

"It would be too easy," Malin said as she noticed the sisters' glancing at each other.

"True," Yuniko nodded again. "I shall give you a hint and let you figure your positions out yourselves. I know you are clever enough to do that. The two brothers of the past are no longer by blood related in our time and the youngest boy was albino."

It clicked fast enough. "So I was once your cousin?" Kyoko said wide-eyed, almost immediately.

"You were, and a very beautiful cousin at that." Kyoko blushed. "I can not tell the future, and I do not know how you, the youngest of us all, will be able to support the adults around you. But I have faith in you; I know you will know what to do when the time comes."

* * *

Kyoko sneaked into her sister's room that night. Not that it was much sneaking with the guards outside both their doors. But the guards accepted her reasons and Kyoko's guard, a man she loved like an uncle, took place beside Ryouko's on the other side of the door.

"Sister?"

Ryouko looked up from her diary. "Are you unable to sleep?" she asked, understanding in her brown eyes.

Kyoko went up to her half-sister's bed and crawled into it beside the white-haired girl. "I can not seem to stop thinking about what her majesty told us today," she said once she was settled against the elder's body.

Ryouko looked down at the words she had just written. They explained what had happened and how she felt about it. Usually when she got her feelings on paper she could keep a hold of them and keep her going. But tonight her feelings changed and shifted, making her unable to know what exactly she was feeling. Her words seemed foreign to her.

With an angry motion the page was ripped out of the book, crumpled and thrown aside. Kyoko looked startled. "Sister?"

"There is too much going on," Ryouko said as she closed her diary and held it to her chest. "I can not understand what I am feeling. It is as if there is more than one of me, all of them feeling different things. One part of me wants to run away and never look back, and immediately there is another part that kick down the first for ever coming up with the thought." The white girl hid her face in her knees, Kyoko still settled against her. "I no longer know how to cope with it all. But if it is this hard for me, for us, to accept what is happening, about to happen, how hard is it not for the queen?"

Kyoko was lost. Her sister, her calm, tidy sister, was frustrated and scared. The brunette girl felt how a wave of protectiveness washed over her and she threw her thin arms around her older sister. "She does not cope at all," she said, making Ryouko turn slightly her way. "Her majesty knows what to do and stand where she stand even when the hardest of winds try to make her waver. This is her ground, and she stands it, no matter what."

Ryouko sighed heavily. Kyoko was doing exaktly what Yuniko had said she was going to do. Kyoko had already found her place, and the white girl envied her for it.

"I wish I was as strong as you in mind."

"What?" Kyoko stared at her sister in disbelief. "But you are strong in mind, sister."

Ryouko shook her head. "I am not strong. I can never come to a final decision. I hesitate to the very end and once it is said and done I keep wondering if it was the right thing to do."

Kyoko laid her head on the thin shoulder of Ryouko. "I do that a lot too. But I have always had you and mother around, and neither of you have ever blamed me. The same will be for you, sister. No matter the decision you have to make, nobody here will judge or blame you."

Ryouko looked into those big, blue eyes. They weren't as bright or as sparking as the queen's, but they held the amount of love she needed at the moment. She smiled slightly. "Thank you, Kyoko."


	30. A strong mind

I've made some changes in this chapter, nothing worth rereading it for, I just wanted you to know.

* * *

**A strong mind**

Midsummer came with its usual brightness, laughs and celebrating. During the days of celebration there was no trace of the shadow always lurking in the back of every Scottish local's mind. Even the most pessimistic of people smiled and laughed during the midsummer festivals, for one day allowing their worry about the future be gone.

The celebrations in and outside the White castle was no different from the rest of the kingdom. Everybody from queen to slave enjoyed their time and laughed, ate and danced together. This was the one day the queen loved the most; for this was the day she was no longer queen. She was another celebrator of the sun and was allowed to dance and set herself free. And now she could smile even brighter than any other day, for the vampires that had been present ever since before lord Thomas's death was no longer there. Obviously they could not stand against the brightness of the year's longest day.

Malin also loved this day, because she could be with her queen as her friend and dance and laugh with her like the teenagers they actually were. They laughed at Mokuba, who seemed to play tag with Rebecca, but knew he had played her yet another prank. They danced with Joey and the other soldiers, though those who Yuniko danced with either were clumsy from too much drinking or stiff because of her everyday beauty. Only Joey, Mokuba and the councilmen were fun to dance with.

The celebrating lasted until next day. It hadn't been dark that night. The sun had only been down for four hours.

When everybody finally got off to bed they were all a shade darker in skin. Only Malin, who was naturally dark-skinned, had been saved the pains of sunburn. Yuniko lay down with a tired sigh, but her face was still smiling, reflecting the light of the day.

"Today, almighty Father," she prayed slowly, sleepily. "Only for today, let us all sleep without disturbs. Let us sleep for one day and one night freed from the darkness that has been over us for so long. Amen."

God heard her, and answered through the cross resting on the little human's heart. The stones shone with a gentle light before they dulled to their usual glow.

* * *

Morning. Dr. Lou came in to do his usual examination of the Dreamers. Nothing had changed in their condition what he could see, but you never knew what happened on the inside. He went to the bed closest to the window, but as he neared Yugi he had to back away as something that felt like electricity went through his body, like a warning. _Don't get close,_ it said. _Don't get close, devil_.

Lou frowned confused. This had never happened before. He had always been able to touch the Dreamers, even if it stung his fingers to touch young Atemu. He knew the reason to that though.

It had been only three days since the older Atemu and Kazuki and started their search for the memories of the Battle Princess, they must have come here straight after they found the cross and it was now making sure he couldn't get close enough to touch the reborn princess. He swore silently. He couldn't do his job if he couldn't touch his patients.

"I can bet the tears I can not even touch your loved ones anymore," Lou muttered and glared accusing at the smiling face of Yugi. "Don't look so sly, precious."

The doctor sat down in a chair to watch the Dreamers. Now when he was unable to take them through the movements that kept their blood circulating and preventing pressure wounds all he could do was sit in here and wait out the time it usually took him to do it. He had been very careful that he was left alone during this time and that no one else even got close to the Dreamers. He knew some said he wanted the reward for curing this state and would be asked about it if it ever happened again. But the truth was very different.

"You must have seen your last midsummer, precious," he said lowly to the still body. "That is the only time we could not get close to you. The light was too strong." Of course there was no answer, but he didn't need one either. It's so close now. Months for you, how long is that to us if you have lived through 18 years in two weeks? Will you be gone tonight?"

* * *

_Yuniko._

The young woman stirred slightly under the blankets.

_Wake up, Yuniko._

The ruler sighed and buried her head deeper into her pillow. A soft laugher could be heard at her actions.

_You need to wake up. The new day is dawning. Much is soon to happen, and it must start today._

A lazy, blue eye opened to be met by amused, transparent green ones. _Rise and shine_.

"I hear you. Now go away."

_When you do as I say_, Yugi smiled.

Another sigh, face hiding deeper in the pillow, then she threw the warm covers off her lithe body and got out of bed.

_Good girl_, Yugi said and faded away, only to be replaced by Yohim.

_Yugi is right_, she said, gaining a tired glare from the queen. _What started when you were born is about to continue today._

"I do not need you to know that."

_True. What you do need us for is to carry out your decision and keep you standing tall when you are about to fall._

Yuniko sighed again and looked over to her nurse's bed. The platinum blonde lay sprawled on the bed, clinging to her pillow as always with the covers tangled around her legs and body. She couldn't help but laugh slightly as she walked up to the dark-skinned woman.

"Wake up, Malin. I need help with my hair."

* * *

Yuniko loved the midsummer festivals, but the next working day wasn't too bad either. That was the day her council had a hangover. Even Lance, the eldest member of the council, straggled in with his hair and cloths out of order.

"Good morning, my happy gentlemen. Please sit down," the queen said with a bright smile being the only one completely in order. She even received a few glares at her bright voice and her smile grew. These were the days she loved to be alive.

"What is first of today's list, Mr Hem?" she asked and turned to the only one who had at least made the effort to brush his hair out.

The man sighed and looked at his papers. "Count Mirr's testament, my queen."

"It is a shame he had to leave us before midsummer, but I am positive he is happier where he is now. A fair man he was and I am certain his testament is as fair."

"It is fair, but his sons are not as good men as their late father."

"Their will can not go against the last will of a man like count Mirr. Now tell me the reason his testament has ended up seeking my advice."

As the meeting went on the council slowly got back to their usual effective pace of work. Malin was half-asleep the whole time, but Joey stood by the door, fit and keen as always. Malin couldn't help but feel a little jealous of him.

* * *

It was in the middle of the day a few days after midsummer the queen noticed the servants whispering with startled faces, and it was only an hour later Mokuba came searching for her with another servant in his heels, trying to stop him.

"Your majesty! Something has happened!"

"Quiet, boy. Forgive him, your majesty. The boy…"

"Is worried about something that has happened in my home. Let him talk to me."

Mokuba was immediately let forth as the servant backed away, slightly startled at the queen's tone. "There are servants that have disappeared without a trace," the boy said, looking straight at Scotland's ruler, much to the strict servant's dismay, but the queen didn't tell him off. She actually looked interested and worried. "They were here yesterday, and this morning, but suddenly they were just gone."

Yuniko looked out of the window, a thoughtful and worried expression on her face.

"Your majesty, I am certain there is a logical explanation," the other servant said. Of all the servants in the castle, Mokuba and Malin were probably the only ones who dared to go straight to the queen when something happened. No one else dared to bother her with what could be just a small trifle.

"I can not rule a kingdom if I do not care about what happens in my own home," the queen said, straight and honest. "If people are disappearing here, they are most likely to disappear all over. Where have people disappeared most?"

"One here and one there," Mokuba asked uncertainly.

"Let us start with the kitchen. I am worried about Solomon. Malin, you can talk to my council and ask them if they have noticed anything and if any of them are missing."

"As you wish, Milady." Malin curtsied and left.

"Let us go to the kitchen."

* * *

Solomon was grateful for the queen's appearance in the kitchen. He was an old man now and his nerves couldn't take more stress than the everyday chaos of the castle's kitchen.

"I have heard of servants disappearing," Yuniko said straight away. "How many have you lost?"

"Only one, thankfully. But I am worried about the little life. His name is Josef and a good worker."

"Have you searched everywhere?"

"Not yet. These hens are too scared to go looking for him because they do not want to disappear themselves."

"Cowards," Mokuba muttered.

"Do not blame people for being afraid, Mokuba," Yuniko scolded him. "You are too."

Another boy, this one a few years younger than Mokuba, entered the kitchen. "Y-your majesty…"

The queen turned to the young boy with hazel eyes and dark brown hair. He was Adam's page she realized, but she had never spoken to him in person before. "Yes… Rut, right?"

The young boy blushed, honoured to no end that the queen knew his name. "Y-yes, ma'am-Milady!" he quickly corrected himself.

"Why the hurry? Has something happened among the soldiers?"

"Ah… Sir Adam sent me. Two of the squires have gone missing. One disappeared this morning and his friend went to search for him, but none have come back yet."

A thought entered Yuniko's mind as she kept staring at the poor page. "Can they…?"

"Milady?" Solomon asked uncertainly.

"Where was the boy last seen?" the queen asked the whole kitchen staff.

A maid fearfully stepped forward. "I-I saw him… h-he went out t-to… throw the b-bad vegetables."

"Where do you do that?"

"Behind the castle, close to the great wall, your majesty," Solomon answered.

"There is an escape door close by there, right?"

No one could answer that question before the queen strode out of the kitchen, calling for Mokuba.

"Here."

"Check with as many as you can where the people were last seen and report to me in the same time you run three rounds around the castle."

"Immediately, Milady."

"I will be on the backyard. Find me there."

Mokuba bowed quickly before he dashed off in another direction. Yuniko strode out of the castle and rounded it to the backyard.

This was a place no one went to if they could avoid it. Rats and mice lived here along with insects that lived of what the humans threw away. There were a few clean paths where the slaves could walk without getting too dirty, one of those paths leading to the escape door.

Even though she never entered the area she could still see the feet that had walked the narrow path and out through that door. Yuniko immediately felt the pressure, the presence of a stronger mind.

"Merciful God," she whispered when she realized just where those people had gone to. "Is there no why to protect my people?"

"Lady Yuniko!"

Mokuba came running towards her, but she already knew what he had to tell, she started to run towards the head gate.

Mokuba stopped, stunned at the ruler's sudden dash. He called for her again, but she didn't seem to hear. Neighing echoed over the courtyard and Unicorn suddenly dashed out of the stables with the stablemen in tow. A loud crash of broken wood and startled neighing and Shadow exited the stable with a broken rope hanging from his halter.

A squeak came from above as Sky lowered over his mistress's head, asking what to do.

_Search humans going north!_

Sky turned north as Yuniko got up on the moving Unicorn's back with the elegance of a dancer. The gate opened without anyone's help, as if the queen's mere thought was enough for it to fly open.

Screams and calls followed the ruler's dash, but Shadow stopped long enough for Malin to climb onto his back. As the black horse followed his daughter and friend he picked up Joey on the way, feeling they had to tag along. The treasure couldn't think straight when she was this angry.

As their queen rushed out of the castle grounds servants, slaves, guards and soldiers tried to do everything at the same time; run after the queen, calm the horses and ask each other what just happened.

"Enough!" a voice echoed over the courtyard. Everyone looked up to see Honda standing in an open window where everyone could see him. "Adam, get your horses ready to go after the queen. I am certain she has a good explanation to her behaviour. A company of soldiers follow the queen by foot."

"But we do not know where the queen went."

"They are heading north!" a guard called from the great wall. "Her majesty is heading towards the northern woods."

Honda frowned in confusion, but didn't let it get to him. "You heard him, Adam. Move now!"

"Yes Sir!"

* * *

Joey and Malin had enough trying to stay on Shadow's broad back. He wasn't a smooth runner and he was starting to feel his years. Still he was one of the best horses in Scotland.

"What do you think happened?" Joey yelled once he found his balance.

"I think she figured out where those people disappeared to!" Malin yelled back, only to bite her tongue when Shadow jumped over a fallen log. She whimpered. Joey's only thought was that Yuni must be more quick-witted than usual.

A flash of light had Shadow stop and rise on his hind legs. There was a loud cry and Shadow dashed forward again with the two humans hanging onto his back for dear life.

There were screams and surprised yells and more flashes of blue and black light. Shadow had to stop all the time, unsure of what to do, but unwilling to leave his daughter and treasure alone.

Then there was a silent explosion. Wherever those black flashes came from they were pushed back by the bright explosion.

* * *

Yugi looked at the people in front of him with calm, green eyes. A young boy looked up at him and he smiled.

"You are safe now," he said softly.

Sky came down and landed on his shoulder with a squeak. Calm eyes and an invisible smile seen on his face.

The light faded and Yuniko fell over Unicorn's back, completely exhausted. The young boy, Josef, rushed forward to stop her from falling off the horse's back. He couldn't help but stare.

Only a moment later a black horse appeared in the clearing with the queen's nurse and a young blond soldier.

"What happened?" the nurse, Malin, asked with eyes filled with worry at the sight of the motionless queen.

"I-I do not know," Josef said nervously. He had never in his life talked to any of the higher up servants. He was a kitchen boy and was only ordered around.

The soldier and Malin got off the horse, the soldier going for the other people lying on the ground and Malin to her queen. After looking at the ruler's face and felt for her pulse the nurse sighed in relief.

"She is only fainted. I suppose she used too much energy again."

"These guys have only fainted as well," the soldier said from beside a young maid.

The eagle squeaked and lifted his wings a little, seemingly calm and amused.

"I wish I could talk to you the same way your mistress does," Malin said with another sigh.

Yuniko moaned and stirred a little, before she settled on Unicorn's bare back, Sky still on her shoulders. The eagle snuggled against her cheek before he rose into the sky and landed on a branch, squeaking for the others to follow him.

"Good thing Shadow came along," Joey said. "Hey kitchen boy. Are you strong enough to carry this one on your back?"

Josef stared at the soldier and then at the small maid in his arms. "I-I do not know. I-I have ne-never carried anyone before."

"I do not think there is anything to be afraid of anymore," the soldier said with a kind smile. "If there were, the queen would not just lie around, and Sky and Unicorn would not be so calm either. We can take these people with us back to safety without being afraid."

Joey threw a few people up on the Shadow's back. He could just hope the black horse wouldn't be awkward during their way back. With Shadow carrying three people, the kitchen boy one and he and Malin two each…

"What about Mr. Hem?" Malin asked.

Joey looked between his only choices; Shadow and Unicorn. The man was too big for him or Malin to take, so that left them with the horses, but he couldn't throw the man on the people on Shadow's back. They'd be crushed.

"I suppose Yuni must share horse with this man."

Malin counted the people again. She didn't know how many had disappeared, but she recognized most of them. Josef was a kitchen boy, she knew him through Solomon since he didn't like to talk too much. The maid he carried on his back was Lilana's, the two she was carrying served as Sir Rolf's cleaning maids, Joey was taking two fellow soldiers and the three on Shadow's back were newcomers in the army and two of them were suitors of Ryouko's. But how could Mr. Hem have come here? He was a member of the council and the monarch's advisor since three years back.

"How could he disappear without anyone noticing?" she asked suspiciously.

"He was probably taking a walk this morning," Joey said as he lifted the heavy man from the ground. "I asked his servant once since I had seen him out with no one near." Shadow began to be awkward at the thought of a stranger riding his daughter, but he understood why so he didn't fight back. "Good boy," Joey praised him with a pat on the muscular neck before he picked up his burden and began to walk. He hoped they would follow without being led by hand. Unicorn followed close behind Malin, since she smelled most of her mistress, and Shadow followed close behind his daughter.

"Tom, the servant, said Mr. Hem likes to take a walk alone in the morning. Tom and his friends were worried though since he did not return as usual this morning."

The nurse nodded in understanding. She was always near the queen so she didn't know much about anybody else's habits. "Josef, do you know how you ended up out here?" she asked the kitchen boy.

The young boy blushed at being addressed by name by the queen's nurse. "N-no. All I remember before is that I was going out with old food to the backyard. I remember I was at the backyard, but the next thing I know I look up into the queen's green eyes…" his voice died down as both Malin and the soldier turn bewildered eyes at him.

"What did you just say?" Joey asked slowly.

Josef couldn't answer. He was too afraid under those staring eyes.

"Milady has blue eyes," Malin explained their reaction. "They have never been green."

"B-but th-they were. S-she said we were sa-safe. He-her voice w-was so calm. T-the eagle smiled."

Joey looked at Sky, now sitting in the top of a tree looking down at them. "Sky and Unicorn are not worried. Maybe the light of the forest just illuminated her majesty's eyes so they looked green?"

"They shone green," Josef protested weakly.

Malin glanced her queen. "I am sure she can explain once she wakes up again," she ended the matter firmly.

Halfway though the forest they were met by Adam's soldiers.

"What happened to them?" a worried soldier asked. "Are they alive?"

"Her majesty saved them," Joey told his fellow soldiers calmly. "Please help me carry them. And if somebody could take the man on Unicorn as well. She does not like sharing her back with anybody else than the queen."

* * *

Yuniko slowly woke up. She could feel the protecting souls of the past and future around her mind and body, protecting her from what tried to invade her dreams.

_Yuniko!_

It sounded like Yohim's voice. She sounded worried.

_You must wake__ up, Yuniko!_

That was Yugi's voice. She had to help them. She had to wake up.

Yuniko opened her eyes, sitting up without blinking for the evening light. "My room?"

"Milady! You are awake again?"

"Malin?" Yuniko looked around. The sun stood so low in west it shone under the heavy rain clouds, giving them a burning red and orange glow with drops of rain that had not yet reached Mother Earth. It looked like rain of blood. The room was warm and bathing in the warm glow of the sun, but inside Yuniko was freezing over. "How long have I slept?"

"Only for a day, Milady. Nothing has actually happened, but we found frost in the grass this morning and the summer insects has already started to die, though now is their time of the year."

Yuniko tilted her head slightly to the side, listening for the voices that had awoken her.

_He has shortened the summer with a whole month,_ Yugi's voice said. He sounded strangely distant.

_We do all we can to keep him away,_ Yohim sounded from somewhere else. _We_ _can do no more. Now you must decide upon your next move._

"Milady?"

"Tell me what happened to the abducted people?"

"Abducted? Milady, are you sure?"

The queen rose from her bed and walked towards her wardrobe. "His mind is stronger than I realized. It reached through my barrier and took over the minds of those people, that way abducting them." The queen choose a red dress with an elegant black lace around the wide collar. "How are they now?"

"All of them are back to normal, but none of them dare to go near the backyard."

"I would be surprised if they did. Please help me."

Malin tied the crisscrossing strays on the back from her waist up. Droplets of rain, coloured red by the falling sun, hit the window.

"Milady, you just run off. Everyone got scared and Honda had to take charge to get some kind of order in the panic. He managed, but he can not rule this kingdom. He may have the council behind him and I am sure they are taking care of things for you, but they can not make quick decisions without you, Milady."

"Because they have no monarch to give them straight orders of what has to be done. They are comfortable under my command. Maybe have I pushed them around too much, giving them comfortable lives where they do not have to do more than bring me news and obey me?"

"I believe they do not see their position like that. They are no royals, Milady. They are noblemen, and loyal ones. They hesitate to do anything that could possibly displease your majesty."

Yuniko looked over her shoulder before she went to her dressing-table. "Why are you so afraid?" she asked softly. "You always call me Yuni when we are alone."

Malin folded her hands in front of her and bit her lip. "I am scared, Yuni. Kyoko has fallen ill."

Yuniko stiffened. "Do my hair and then I will go see her."

Malin nodded her head and obeyed.

_He went straight for her_, Yohim said from afar. _He recognizes her from five hundred years ago. Kaio was a healer, therefore he sent the plague to her, so that she would be unable to save the people. We were too late to save her. Now all we can do is block the virus._

The queen sat very still, resolute and angry. Never had she been so humiliated before. The Vampire Lord was playing with her. He used her brother, she was certain of it, and now he was sending all his attacks against her people. As long as she knew her people was in danger she would have no time to prepare for his attack.

The sun fell beyond the horizon.

* * *

As she slowly walked through the corridor towards Marie's room Yuniko put a calming, protecting hand on every servant she passed, giving them a kind smile. When Honda came running towards her and kneeled in front of her, grabbing her skirt and kissing it in pure relief, she apologized for rushing off and said she would explain everything as soon as she had visited Kyoko.

"But you are feeling all right?"

"I feel fine, Honda. Please forgive me for worrying you."

As they arrived to the healer's quarters they found Marie was not in a good mood. She didn't like Kyoko having an illness she couldn't cure, or even ease, and she was halfway through her rant at poor Kyoko, lying in a bed, obviously feeling very sick.

"Leave your ranting for someone who is willing to listen, Marie," Yuniko told her the second she heard Marie almost blamed Kyoko for being ill. "Can you not see you are making young Kyoko feel worse?"

"Your holy majesty." There was almost a worshipping tone in her voice.

"How is she?"

"Ill, your holy majesty. Since she came here she has only gotten worse."

Yuniko went up to Kyoko's bed and placed a hand on her sweaty forehead. "Plague," was the only thing she said, but it made Marie's breath caught and caused Malin to go so pale she almost turned white.

"I have allowed nobody in here since she arrived," Marie said, thinking through that time. "Her sister carried her here and then left. The crazy girl! She will be the death of us all!"

"Young Ryouko and the rest of the castle is completely safe," Yuniko said calmly but firmly as she sat on Kyoko's bed, her magic working through the young girl's system. "I have seen to it. Only young Kyoko has been infected."

"My great queen, you can not just assume…"

The queen gave the healer an honestly offended look. "I know from where this plague was sent here. My magic is stopping the virus from spreading. You call me holy, but you seem to have little faith in my powers."

Marie was so shocked she couldn't form a word or even make a sound. Yuniko turned her complete attention back towards her little sister. Malin, Marie and Honda first heard her mumble something that sounded like a prayer, then they could see the soft light that surrounded her, flowing into the brunette on the bed. Darkness, a shadow, escaped Kyoko's body as light entered it. Eyes, crimson like the setting sun only minutes ago, glared at the saint, outraged and unsatisfied. It turned its glare towards the three observers and went for them.

**_"Be gone, Devil. We will never give you the blood of Earth's people."_**

The Battle Princess's light shone through everything. The shadow had nowhere to escape and so it was destroyed by the holy light coming from the saint.

When Malin could see again Yuniko sat on Kyoko's bedside, caressing her forehead. The young girl looked much better now.

"Milady?"

Blue, relieved eyes looked up into her purple ones. "She is tired. All this time she has fought the Devil all alone. So she is tired and must rest. But she is safe now."

Marie walked forward to examine her patient, and Yuniko let her, standing from the bed.

"A miracle. She is completely cured!"

"God close out no one from his grace. He saved Kyoko through me." The queen then straightened up, nothing but knowledge of the situation on her face. "Please tell me as soon as young Kyoko wakes up. If she can walk, take her to the great hall, otherwise, carry her." The queen then turned to Honda. "Gather the council and my advisors. Malin, find Joey and Mokuba and have them moving. I want the White castle's every man, woman and child in the great hall as soon as possible. If anybody is working, tell them it can wait."

Honda saluted before he bowed deeply and Malin curtsied quickly before they both left to obey their queen. When she used that tone she had something to tell that concerned her entire kingdom.

The queen turned to Marie, who was quite unsure of what to do. "Stay here and watch young Kyoko until she wakes up. You have your orders."

Marie curtsied, too dumbfounded to talk.

* * *

For the second time in history noblemen crowded with slaves and servants in the white castle's great hall. It was no kind of twisted fate that had made this happen twice under Yuniko's time. In history saints have always been simple people born poor, but rich in soul. But Yuniko was a royal, and stayed as such, and as a monarch she was the only one in the past, present and ever future to know the true value of a life.

"My people. I have very bad news for all of us."

Soldiers exchanged looks with servants, noblemen with maids, slaves with councilmen. This concerned them all just as much, and the queen would care the same for every last one of them.

Yuniko looked out over the sea of heads, noticing the worry written in their faces. She could feel it. Something that did not belong. Somewhere an ant had slipped through her guard again. Her back straightened as she gained enough courage to tell them all what she feared. "You all know I have created a barrier around my kingdom to protect you, high and low alike. But my barrier is only enough to keep the vampires out physically, they can still enter."

Whispers and gasps echoed through the room, but was silenced by their queen's hand. "Please listen to me. I do what I can to protect you, but my enemy, the Vampire Lord, is no longer aiming his attacks at me, but at you, my people."

This time panic rose in the air as the people started to talk to each other of what could soon happen, screaming they had to leave. Yuniko looked out over them all. She could feel Joey, Malin, Ryouko and Honda look at her for support. She flung out with her arms. "SILENCE!"

A wind blew through the room from the one standing above them all. The Battle Princess stood there with a Gloria of light around her head. Her voice boomed and echoed over their heads. **_"I will not let my people be hunted by nightmares through the night. I will not let my people fear anything in or beyond my kingdom's boundaries. I will not leave my people alone and scared of the dark. For I will defeat it."_**

Everyone, from simple slave to greedy nobleman, saw the light, heard the promises, and believed. If their queen said she would protect hem, she would.

"I must see my council immediately. Crow of the vampire tribe warned me that if I angered the Vampire Lord further their attack would come sooner. I fear I have angered him again. You may return to your duties, and I will ask you to have faith in me. If only my people believe in me I can defeat everything."

Honda organized the council and advisors to be gathered in the official meeting room. This was the room Scotland's rulers used when meeting other kings, or only the earls and lords of Scotland. It was bigger than their usual meeting room and had a huge window facing west, giving a royal view over the sunset. Tonight all light had turned dark and greyish and Heaven was crying heavy tears over the world. The queen paced in the room in front of her council, a sign she was worried.

"Milady, it is still not too late to prepare the soldiers for war," Sir Rolf said carefully.

"I know," Yuniko said, but never stopped pacing.

"Shall I carry out the order, my queen?" Adam asked from the door where he stood as guard.

Yuniko stopped in front of the window. Yugi's reflection stared back at her.

_Humans can not fight vampires_, the green-eyed boy repeated what she herself had said only weeks ago.

"No. I will not let anybody die in vain. Declaration of war is not the answer, neither is a display of power."

"But my queen. What other choice do we have?" an elder councilman asked, almost pleading her to consider.

"I do not know," the queen said. "I told you I had a decision to make. I had almost made up my mind. But now I am not as certain I am doing the right thing anymore."

"Your majesty's obsession of protecting the people is crossing the line," someone said, an irritated hint to his voice. "This has been a war since the moment the vampires made themselves known to your majesty. Does your majesty really believe a war will claim no victims?"

The queen turned her angry, almost desperate eyes towards him. "It has already claimed enough victims, Mr. Hem. Have you forgotten my brother? Have you forgotten the late king, my father? Have you forgotten Lord Thomas and his men? Have you truly forgotten all of them?"

The man lowered his head. "No, your majesty."

"Why do you believe I called this a war and not a battle? Because it is not only between me and the Vampire Lord. It is between his people and mine. The only difference is that his people want to fight while mine can only try to protect themselves. And people die in war. It has already claimed victims, not only from my side."

She picked up her pacing, refusing to look at the reflections in the dark window. She knew Yugi and Yohim were waiting for her decision.

There was a hesitant knock on the door. "Enter," the queen called, hoping it was Marie and Kyoko.

The door opened and Joey came in with Ryouko. "Your majesty?"

"Have something happened?"

The two looked at each other. "We…" Ryouko started, but words seemed to fail her.

Joey was first to drop the act to find a good excuse. "We were worried about you. Marie said you cured Kyoko. Using magic is not good for your health, Milady."

"You visited young Kyoko? How was she? Has she awoken yet?"

Ryouko shook her head, concern evident in her eyes. "Yu… your majesty… why did you cure my sister when you know it… tear on your he- majesty's health?"

"Young Kyoko is important to the future and to me. You remember what I told you about the first Battle Princess?"

"Of course, Milady," Joey spoke for them both.

"The first Battle Princess?"

Yuniko sighed silently before turning to her council. "I managed to find the story behind this cross." She touched the exposed silver cross with its bright sapphires. "It belonged to the first Battle Princess, the one who caused the trouble I have today. It is a long story."

"Well, we are not going anywhere," Sir Rolf said. The men leant forward, waiting to hear her out. Yuniko sat in her high chair.

"Everything started five hundred years ago in Walachia. What do you know about the country in the south east corner of Europe?"

"Very little, my queen," an elder man spoke. "Multicultural I have heard; Magyars, Romanians, Szekelys, Slovaks and many gypsies" he glanced at Malin, slight question in his eyes.

"I was born in Wales," the nurse answered his unspoken question.

"I see. Well, the gypsies we all know are nomads, thieves and dancers, liars and storytellers, sneaky and open. They are all these things, I am not saying they are different from other people though," he assured the queen's offended nurse. He knew she had been a thief and had never once used it against her, but talking like her family had been some kind of outsiders to usual humans she didn't take well.

"Please, both of you. We are not here to discuss any group of humans. Continue with what you know about Walachia, please."

"Yes, of course. My apologies, Miss Malin."

"Apologise accepted," Malin nodded.

"Well, about Walachia, it is a small kingdom, old and with no own language, but it has a king. Not a gypsy though. Under some kings the gypsies have been persuaded, enslaved and executed, and under some they have been able to live freely. I believe today's king is good to them."

"He is young though," another advisor spoke. "He has only ruled for twenty months."

"That is good, though I can not do anything about another kingdom but my own."

Glances were exchanged between the councilmen. Had every kingdom had a ruler like theirs the world would be a much better place to grow up in.

"Five hundred years ago the King of Walachia was a true tyrant," Yuniko continued. "He loved to execute people and I believe he liked to dine in his execution dock. His name I found was Vald Dracul."

"Dracul?" Honda exclaimed. "Knight of the Order of the Dragon?"

"You have heard of him?"

"My grandmother was Romanian; she used to tell me stories about Walachia's kings. The Order of the Dragon was executed by the Romanian ruler since they tried to widen Walachia's boundaries. The next king lived under the supervision of the surrounding kingdoms. Well, grandmother even spoke of this Dracul person. She said he was a Devil in human disguise. He was so evil the sun rarely shone over his castle."

"Why am I not surprised. Dracul is now known under another name; Sanguis."

Eyes widened as realization hit in hard. "No," Honda whispered.

"Forgive me for not telling you this earlier, my council. I thought the history to be too… hard to understand, for I know most of you are realists."

Red crossed most cheeks as the men fidgeted in their chairs. Malin couldn't help but smirk. "That is the reason Milady has never told you the whole truth about her enemies."

"Whole truth?" someone asked.

"You have not realized it yet, Sir Adolphe? I just told you Dracul, king of Walachia and knight of the Order of the Dragon from five hundred years ago and Sanguis who is the Vampire Lord today is the same person."

"That is not possible!"

"Not according to realism," the queen nodded. "But you are thinking 'you can not live that long'. You forget. Vampires are not living. They are undead, living dead with increased strength and senses. Their sight is like a hawk's, they can hear the heartbeats of the living when we try to hide, they smell our blood from a far distance… and they are strong. I myself have felt the strength of the vampires. That is what makes them so dangerous to normal people. I have only survived because my strength has been equal to theirs." Bewildered eyes stared at her. "No," she answered the unvoiced question in their eyes. "Being undead does not mean immortal. Once again you forget, this war has claimed victims from their side as well."

"My queen, we know they are weak against sunlight and crucifixes, but those things are only weaknesses. What is it that caused them to actually die?"

Malin's face hardened, Joey tensed, Ryouko took a step forward to talk but regretted and Honda had a silent conversation with the queen with their eyes.

"The blood of a saint," the queen said at last, almost reluctantly. "My blood."

The councilmen looked confused and disbelieving.

"Through the years I have found out a lot about the vampires, but my research about them has also led to realizations about myself and a past life. Five hundred years ago the first Battle Princess was too weak and wounded to defeat Dracul. With the last of her strength she sealed him away along with his strongest vampires. You remember Crow? Or maybe you never saw him." She looked over at Joey and Adam by the door.

"Too clearly, Milady," Adam said. "I have never seen a man of his size in my life. I can only describe him as a… handsome, terrifying monster."

The queen nodded. "True. When disguised as humans the vampires are handsome people. But as you said, they are also terrifying. Crow talked about the Lord being angry with me for causing the end of one of his strongest vampires. But we have sidetracked. Where was I?" She looked at Malin.

"You have told us the first Battle Princess lived in Walachia five hundred years ago and that she was too weak to defeat Dracul so she sealed him away."

"A very short version of the entire story," Yuniko said matter-of-factly. "Let me start over again. The first Battle Princess had a cousin, a healer, under the name of Kaio. The cousin was orphan with the Battle Princess, named Yohim, as only relative. Since Kaio was a beautiful girl she was kidnapped by Dracul's soldiers, or his monsters, I can not tell, and Yohim was called to his castle to bless the engagement between her cousin and Dracul. She refused of course, as Kaio did not want to be married. The girl was young, though I can not tell how old she was. However, when Yohim refused to give her cousin away Dracul ordered them both to be killed right then and there. It was only thank to… I believe they were Yohim's sons, or they were Guardian angels, Kaio and Yohim managed to escape the castle into the light of the day. Kaio was unharmed but Yohim had gained fatal wounds. She died the same night, fighting Dracul and his monsters."

"How did you find out this story?" someone asked.

"Researching the past," the queen said casually with an obvious refusal to say more.

"But knowing the past does nothing to help us." Mr. Hem stood and started to pace. "We know now who the enemy is, we know his name and we know where he came from. But it does not solve the problem. History revealed no other weakness but sunlight, it told of no weapons strong enough to fight those monsters back. We may be wiser from history, but not stronger. There is nothing in that story we can use as advantage to our enemies."

"Of course not, my friend," Yuniko said lightly. "Because you are not the one to fight you find no use in the history. But I who will fight have found something very useful in the three times; past, present and future. With God's help I may be able to defeat my enemy."

"Refused!"

The queen looked at the two men of her council that had yelled. She raised an eyebrow at them.

"My queen, it is madness. You can not fight those monsters alone. You said yourself humans can not fight vampires. Still your majesty persists to fight them. My dear, precious queen, I… _we_ beg you to consider. We love you, Yuniko. Do not leave us in the dark with no possibility to save you."

Yuniko's face showed her despair and frustration for a second before she managed to control her features.

There was another knocking on the door and Marie entered with a pale Kyoko.

"Young Kyoko, you seem to have recovered. I am relieved."

Kyoko curtsied quickly. "I thank your majesty for my life. Miss Marie told me your majesty saved me."

Yuniko nodded with a reviled smile before she turned to the healer. "Thank you, Marie. Have you heard what I said in the great hall?"

"Yes, my holy queen. Young Sir Joey told me everything."

"Good. You can leave now. Kyoko, stay here."

Marie looked slightly offended, but curtsied and vanished out the door. Yuniko looked at her youngest half-sister with concern. "Do you remember what happened when you caught the plague?"

"I do," Kyoko replied, surprised the queen knew. "There was a shadow with red eyes. It said… what was it?" Kyoko thought hard for a long moment. "It said something about… me being a healer of the past and… that he could not let me live. For as long as I live his plague can never root… or something. Forgive me, Milady. I can not remember very clearly. I can not really tell dream from reality."

Some of the councilmen glared at her and wondered why the queen listened. They were still frustrated with her for refusing their help.

"Good. Now we know you are fine so you can leave," the eldest member of the council said and waved a hand. But the queen gave him a cold glare.

"Since when are you the one to give orders here?" she asked coolly. "Kyoko is important in this war and might be the one to settle it for good. She has powers I am not certain of. Even Ryouko has powers enough to fight the vampires, or defend herself and my people against them."

The man lowered his head. "Forgive me, my queen. I am frustrated and worried about you and Scotland's future."

"He is not alone, Milady," Honda said. "Why do you refuse the soldiers to prepare for war? Why do you refuse your people to help you?"

Yuniko stood and walked up to the window. Her reflection showed her a woman she didn't recognize. The face was tired and to her it was scarred and dirty. The eyes she knew others saw as blue were grey and dull to her.

"Milady, let us protect our kingdom."

So much depended on her. Everything was falling apart around her and she could do nothing to keep it together. She felt it like she was wearing a boulder on her shoulders, so heavy she would soon break under the weight. Outside it was dark and rain fell in cold downpours, inside it was brightly lit and the fire warmed the room, but it seemed just as cold. Expectations and demands were in the eyes of the people behind her. She noticed Mokuba hiding behind a vase eavesdropping. He too was expecting her to do what she had refused for so long.

Yugi's kind face appeared beside Yuniko's. _You can not change history_, he said softly.

Yohim's strong being stepped into view in the glass. _But you can change the future._

Grey eyes adverted from their stares. She could not go back, she could not see the future.

A strong invisible hand lay on her stiff shoulders. _You can do something. You must do what I failed. Your brother needs your help._

Future's eyes shifted from the monarch to something behind her. _We are said to be quick-witted. Still we are quite easily fooled._

Yuniko's eyes widened and her mind came to a halt, then it ran over what had been said since she entered this room.

She was fooled?

Her mind ran further back in the past, the Vampire Lord's mind that had abducted her people, the poor kitchen boy with a mind strong enough to stay conscious after her purification. A man who had taken a long time to recover.

She was fooled?

Her mind went two years back in time. Breath stuck in her throat, connections revealed in her mind, smirks and taunt gave the plan away.

She was fooled?

Malin looked at her friend's back. It was stiff and the shoulders were tense. When the dark head lowered Malin wanted to rush forward and hold her. Never before had the queen looked so vulnerable and lonely. It brought tears to her purple eyes. Then the queen's head suddenly lifted and slowly turned.

"Milady?"

The blue eyes that before had held back so much tiredness and frustration was colder and sharper than Malin had ever seen before, and they were aimed straight at Mr. Hem.

"_Our_ kingdom?"

Mr. Hem took a step back, stammering something incoherently. The queen slowly stepped closer to him.

"As long as I have lived…"

Mr. Hem's brown eyes flickered, as if looking for an escape.

"…The kingdom has been _mine_."

Confused eyes became suspicious and turned to the obviously sweating man. No one had ever made the mistake to say the kingdom belonged to anybody else but the queen.

"Three years ago you came here from northwest seeking service as the late king's advisor."

"Yes, you were there. You read-"

"Two years ago governor Kale died."

"So true. That is why I-"

"Just like every other person in that fortress."

"It was an illness-"

"Right before you came here."

"I managed to escape by-"

"Only days after the death of my brother."

"I-I-I…"

"Every morning you take a walk around the courtyard."

"I enjoy the smell of morning, your-"

"Before the sun rises."

"I-I am awake before-"

"Two days ago you disappeared along with several other people."

"I can not remember-"

"Those who had disappeared with you had gone to the back yard."

"I assure you I never-"

"Why would a man of your level go near the back yard?"

Mr. Hem was now backed against the wall with no chance of escape. He looked around for support among his friends only to realize their loyalty to the queen was way stronger than their friendship to him. The door was flanked by Adam and Dwarf with Joey, Kyoko and Ryouko in front of it and in front of him stood the queen, blocking the way to the window.

"How could you be sole survivor and not even wear the illness with you?"

The man's mouth was moving, but no sounds escaped.

"Why were you among the abducted people?"

The last councilman stood, Joey's hand rested on his sword, Adam and Dwarf's hand gripped theirs tighter.

The Battle Princess stared straight into the traitor's scared eyes. "Why did you call my kingdom _ours_?"

Desperation took over and the man who called himself Mr. Hem threw himself at the Battle Princess with an inhuman cry.

Joey drew his sword and dashed forward along with Adam and Dwarf. Kyoko leaped into the air, Malin pulled out her knives, the councilmen drew their weapons and Ryouko's hands grabbed after weapons she realized she didn't have.

But the Battle Princess was closest and her holy sword left the sheath in a white flash. The room stopped when the bluish light filled it. Hem managed to avoid a direct hit, but his dodge cost him an arm. It fell to the floor and moulted immediately. Holy light surrounded the queen, but it seemed to have no affection on the traitor.

"How can you not be fazed by God's light?" the Battle Princess asked angrily. "Why did I never before realize you are one of them?"

Hem smirked evilly, his voice like silk, a deathly poison. "Why do you ask when you already know the answer?"

Yuniko's blue eyes widened and she remembered the night of her sixteenth birthday two years ago. Pure anger entered her eyes. "Devil," she hissed and raised her sword to attack.

Hem laughed at her and turned to jump through the window, but a small, blue-eyed brunette was in the way and a well-aimed kick hit his gut. Even Yuniko was surprised at the flash of green light that exploded by the connection and her body acted on own regard and cut the vampire in two.

Mr. Hem, known among the vampires as Snake-Ant, lost his defence and mouldered to dust before he hit the ground.

A small bottle of glass was saved by the dead vampire's ashes. Joey rushed forward and picked it up. It was filled with liquid.

"Water?"

"Almost," the Battle Princess said as she put her white sword back into its sheath. "It is the tears I cried when they took my brother away from me. Tears of pure love."

Yuniko took the bottle from Joey and studied it. The tears were clear as silver, highlighted by the crystal glass. The bottle had some kind of long, disordered jewel shape, not meant to stand, with a glass cork shaped as a pigeon's wing. Her hand tightened around the glass holding her own tears. "This is what they needed them for, this is why he wishes me to cry, it is for this my brother and father were taken from me. My love to protect them from the sun."

The bottle broke in her hand.

"Yuniko!"

"It is for these so many have died!"

Malin held her upset friend's arm out as Joey and Honda opened her fingers and tried to remove the glass stuck in it. She opened her mouth to say something. She thought of 'It was not your fault' and 'You could not have known', but she silenced at the sight of Yuniko's face. The girl was not blaming herself for what had happened. All those lives had been spilled because of her. Her family had been taken away from her for tears.

"I suppose I knew," Yuniko whispered, eyes dry, seemingly not seeing what was in front of her eyes. "I did know. Yet I did not do anything about it. I suppressed the knowledge, wishing to move the blame from me."

"It was not your fault, Yuniko," an old man said and placed an angry hand on her shoulder. "Nothing has ever been your fault."

The queen looked up at him, her eyes saying much more than words can describe. "Not my fault, but because of me. This war started because I was born. Because it _is_ my fault."

No one could oppose her, for what she said was true. The war had started because she was born, and many had lost their lives in her name. It was no question of blame and guilt. This was not happening because someone had acted foolishly or made the wrong decision. The queen of Scotland was simply responsible because she was _born_.

"Milady?" Malin voiced carefully.

"We can do no more for now. First of all we have to warn the people about the cold coming one month early. Mokuba."

Everybody followed the queen's gaze and was surprised to actually find the errand boy peeking from behind a vase. "Yes?" he said with overly innocent eyes. He had a "who, me?" look on his face, like a dog who knew he was in trouble.

"I can let you go with a warning this time, since it is the first time I actually catch you doing it."

The young boy blushed and fidgeted. He now knew Yuniko had always known he was eavesdropping from time to time.

"On one condition."

"Yes?" Mokuba straightened up, ready for some kind of punishment.

"That you make sure my messengers reach every corner of Scotland with the warning of the coming cold."

Mokuba stared at his queen.

"Now you really will have to run to Scotland's every house and hut, just like you promised you would do if her majesty asked you," someone said with suppressed laugher in his voice.

The errand boy's face suddenly broke in a wide smile and he saluted Scotland's queen and his pretended sister.

"Yes Ma'am."

Before Yuniko would have laughed, now she could only smile a little and sigh at his innocence. "Good boy."

Yuniko never sat as the meeting turned from crisis to confident efficiency. Discussing the harvest, the castle's food supplies, preparing for winter and writing a royal letter to the people were all familiar things. They were simply one month early, that was all.

* * *

When Yuniko finally lay in her bed, ready to fall asleep and sleep in the next day she slipped into the world somewhere outside her mind where she met Yugi and Yohim.

_The people are safe for the moment._

_We see to that, don't worry._

_Now the council will have something at mind to keep them from interfering with my decision._

_You have already made up your mind._

_Can someone make you consider and change your resolution?_

Yugi's green eyes looked deep into hers and both knew what he meant.

_No,_ she answered with a smile. _Just like Kaio, Mil and Ry together could not make you stay in bed._

Yohim smiled sadly at the memory, then it faded, her brown eyes staring hard into Yuniko's. _I had no choice. Never did I have one, never have you had one._

Yuniko looked down at her hands. _True_. Strong blue eyes looked up into green and brown ones. _I have decided to fight. This was all our fault to begin with. Now we will make sure to put it to and end._

The cross lying beside Yuniko's body on the bed glowed under the covers. It was more than a decision. It was a promise made outside of time.


	31. Scotland's monarch

Hi readers. Today it's Valentine's day, so in the heart of this loving day I give you the next chapter of Battle Princess.

Ah, we're coming closer and closer to the end. I hadn't actually made plans for what happens in this chapter, considering I planned the last one from the very beginning. It's not very long, actually the three next chapters are rather short, but I like the... no, I won't go ruining the story, you'll have to read it all by yourself. So have fun!

* * *

**Scotland's monarch**

The preparation for the harvest was efficient. The people heeded the queen's warning more willingly than she had hoped for. She realized her people had much more faith in her than any other people to their monarch thorough history.

The harvest didn't give much, but at least it gave more than it would have done if they had started when they usually did. They would have had nothing. The queen made sure Solomon had the castle's food supplies well filled and rationed thorough the long winter. If the people ran out of food during winter she told them they could get a share from her supplies, but only if they really needed them. She made sure everyone understood they could only have _one_ share a month for every village and town, the size of the share would depend on the amount of people living in the area. Some… almost half of the governors were grunting about the early harvest discussion and work, but the queen wouldn't bend, and the people were heeding her and not their governors. It had long since proved to be the right thing. Scotland's queen was always right in the end.

During the days, that became shorter by every sunset, arms and hands worked, filled the barns with as much as the harvest gave, for humans and animals alike. Confused birds came to the white castle and asked what was going on, why the cold was coming so quickly, and Yuniko told them about the cold north coming south. The birds agreed to spread the news and so even the wild animals started to prepare for winter.

They days passed quickly and the castle seemed wrapped in a golden light. The past and future was working hard alongside the present to keep the Vampire Lord away from the humans. They all knew they were starting to become hungry. They had felt more than one vampire attack the barrier, but not being able to enter.

Kyoko and Ryouko trained with Joey and the new soldiers that was soon to be organized and sent to the villages. The queen felt it was asking too much to ask her people to gather as much as they could. If she failed it would also make them an easier catch for the vampires.

Adam trained with and yelled at his soldiers from early morning to late night. The in-training soldiers slept heavily at night and rose with Malin's call when the first sunlight coloured the eastern sky in grey and gold.

"How far is it from East to West?" Yuniko asked one morning when she, accompanied by Honda, went to the dining room for breakfast. The entire council was having breakfast with their queen since Mr. Hem's betrayal had been uncovered. They wanted to make sure something like it did not happen again. It gave them a chance to be openly suspicious about each other, something they had always been more or less.

"Pardon?"

Yuniko laughed softly. "I asked myself really, but maybe you can answer instead; How far is it from East to West?"

Honda only stared at her along with Malin. None of them understood.

"The former king used to say so on days he felt frustrated," Honda suddenly remembered.

"You have never heard the story about the priest and parish clerk?"

Honda shook his head in denial.

"Well, I can not tell you here, but the king asked the parish clerk, who had dressed like the priest, three questions, and one of them was the one I asked."

"And the answer, Milady?" Malin spoke up.

"One day's march."

"Why one day?" Honda asked confused. "You can take one step from east to west, or travel from the east horizon to the west."

Yuniko sighed with a smile. "The king asked for an explanation as well, and the parish clerk told him that the sun goes up in East, and goes down in West, and it takes for it one day's march."

"That was clever," Malin said as she thought about it. "But why did you ask it now?"

"To go from East to West it takes the sun one day's march. Father used the question on days he thought was long. Now I am using it to say the days are too short. It is late August and already the days are short. I was simply wishing for the sun to slow its striding march across the sky."

Honda and Malin looked at their queen and friend. Yuniko seemed older by the day. Her body seemed stiff even if she moved with more grace than any other around. Her back was probably hurting from tensing so much and there were much less determination in her strides. Her face showed no trace of wrinkles, but her blue eyes were not as brilliant and her smile not as eager as it used to. The wrinkle in her forehead never really eased, not even when she slept. Malin thought her friend looked even more troubled and worked out when sleeping than working during the days.

"Will Milady be alright?"

Yuniko smiled warmly. "I will be just fine, dear. I have you all to look after me."

Honda frowned behind his queen's back. He was worried sick about her, which was obvious from the dark circles under his eyes. Yuniko did her best to calm them all, keep them occupied with familiar chores and subjects. It worked during the days and as long as she was around and gave her orders, but at night the worry came back full force, robbing many of their sleep.

Yuniko and her company entered the already occupied dining room. She was usually last to enter ever since the event with Mr. Hem. She knew most of them had sleeping troubles and therefore rose early, and she was worried about their health. It was not good for them to loose so much sleep, especially not when the darkness drew closer on them. It was still dark outside. Yuniko could almost feel their eyes in her back. They were just waiting for her to make her move, or for the night they would be able to invade her kingdom, and the world with it.

'How far is it from East to West?' Yuniko asked herself again silently.

* * *

Ryouko's dreams were hunted by dark shadows. _Blue eyes were nearing from above, red eyed beings were surrounding her on the ground, and a single green eye stared hungrily at her from a tower. White fangs, stained with red blood, glinted in the light of the thin crescent moon. New moon would be in three days._

_Ryouko tried to flee, to run, hide, but there was nowhere she could escape those hungry beings lusting for her blood. She closed her eyes tightly and hid her face in her hands. She would die!_

_But suddenly a pair of strong, safe arms surrounded her and lifted her up into the sky. The body she found herself pushed against was warm so she hid in the flat chest as the chilly night air soared around them._

"_You do not have to be afraid, Ryouko."_

_The girl's brown eyes looked up into her father's smiling face. He looked different from when she had met him in her room that night. He had no fangs, his hair seemed softer, as his eyes, and his ears were round. "Father?"_

"_Can you see her?" Aku's face turned away from hers and looked towards the ground. When the young girl followed his gaze she noticed the queen on the ground. She stood like a guardian at the top of the great wall with her sword drawn. She, the wall and the castle behind was completely surrounded by a barrier of golden light._

"_She does everything she can. She will never let you be harmed."_

"_That is right," said a voice from beside them and Ryouko turned to meet the face of a young boy with tanned skin, white hair and warm brown eyes. "Mother will always protect us."_

"_They all will," another voice spoke from her other side. A teenage boy with very pale skin, snow white hair and the same brown eyes Ryouko was used to see staring back at her from a mirror. "Yugi always cared more for his friends than himself. And now there are three of them."_

The Kyoko who almost tip-toed out of her room that morning was sharp-eyed, straight and proud. The down-to-earth and realistic child seemed to have grown up over night. People who saw and recognized her frowned in confusion at her new stance and forgot to greet her.

"Good morning, young Kyoko," Yuniko greeted her when she entered the dining room to join the people already gathered there. She did not seem faced by her sudden pride and confidence. "I see you slept well tonight?" It was a statement just as much as a question.

"I did, thank you, your majesty," Kyoko curtsied and bowed her head. She seemed to have gained a little more grace as well.

"I wish to talk to you and your sister later. You have both slept in this morning, so please take a seat."

Kyoko was halfway through her breakfast of boiled eggs, newly baked bread and porridge with honey when Ryouko suddenly dashed into the room. As soon as those brown eyes landed on Yuniko she ran straight into her arms, holding onto her tightly. Most councilmen tensed at the sudden intimately, but Yuniko returning the embrace relaxed them. But suddenly Ryouko jumped back from the queen's embrace and glared fiercely at her.

"How can you be so stupid?" she almost yelled.

Yuniko raised her eyebrows in a confused and amused expression. Malin was shocked to say at least. Ryouko looked like she very much wanted to slap the queen with all her might.

"I love," Yuniko answered as the confusion eased from her face and left her smiling in amusement. "Love and stupidity goes hand in hand most of the time."

Ryouko gritted her teeth and shook in what seemed to be complete rage, but Yuniko laid a calming hand on her head. "I know I am stupid, and I know you love me dearly. But this time I will stay as stupid as God, who loves mankind so deeply he keeps guiding us to this very day, no matter what we do to each other and the Earth."

Kyoko stood up, grace and pride still obvious in her movements. "Her majesty is stupid," she said, gaining many wild eyed stares. "But we all love her because of it."

"Shut your mouths right this instant!" Sir Rolf yelled. "You have no right to accuse our queen for stupidity!"

"But we have, Sir," Kyoko said, eyes straight and determined. "It was stupid to give Ken another chance. It was stupid to accept late Lord Thomas's offer to join forces through marriage. It was stupid to let Ken go and forgive him. It is stupid to refuse the soldiers to prepare for war."

Yuniko's eyes narrowed and the glee cleared from her face. Kyoko swallowed silently. "All those things were and are stupid, but more than anything it proves her majesty's great mercy. It was merciful to give Ken another chance, it was merciful to leave him and let him try figure out the depth of his treachery, and it was mercy that forgave him. If Scotland goes to war," she swallowed again and continued with softer voice, "then people will die, families lose their sons, bloodlines be broken… for humans can not fight vampires."

Kaio's grieving, pained eyes looked out of Kyoko's, memories flashing by in them.

"True," Yuniko said softly. "I have said so before. I am glad someone finally understands my words the way they were meant." She glanced at Malin, who watched in confused silence. But her purple eyes belonged to one who was starting to understand. She shook her head.

"We all knew the outcome of this war a long time ago."

* * *

Adam and the council tried harder than ever to convince the queen to prepare the soldiers, but Yuniko refused to move and inch in the matter. It was like their words just slipped past as they threw them her way. Her "Give me a good reason" question was answered by; "To protect you", which the queen responded to with an expecting "And..?" But since they had no other reason the argument ended with another win for Yuniko. Because the only other argument they had had turned out useless because the queen were almost obsessive and desperate to protect the people, and the soldiers were people. Just like the council's members, the servants, even the villains, thieves and criminals were people. They were given names, but they were still people. Yuniko had that speech once, and the matter was never again brought up, in or out of her presence.

Ryouko, Kyoko and Joey continued to train with the soldiers, which were now sorted out into groups of about a dozen men practicing in fighting together. Scotland's monarch left nothing to chance. The groups were set and complaints or disagreements were brought immediately to the queen. After the first two there had been no more. Why? Because the queen was more final than the soldiers were displeased. The groups were sent out at the beginning of September and left only Yuniko's most trusted and stubborn men by her side. Some of them simply refused to leave her and the White castle.

Malin stayed by her queen's side throughout the days and shared her bed during the nights, mostly to make sure Yuniko wouldn't disappear. The blue-eyed ruler understood and let her be, keeping her worried and scared nurse close to her.

The queen wasn't the only one sharing her bed. The servants crowded in their rooms more than usual to keep each other warm through the steadily colder nights. It was Ryouko who after three nights of sharing her bed with Kyoko and still being cold at last asked her half-sister to sleep in her room.

"You are welcome. Malin is doing so too," the queen had replied to Ryouko's discreet wish.

Joey had a bed in the barracks, but with the cold creeping in on them he too shared a bed with his fellow soldiers.

But not everyone in Scotland was able to do so. The falling temperature had a harvest of victims; old men and women, newborn children, homeless, poor people with no fat to keep warmth in. As the days passed and September reached its middle days the reports about people frozen to death came with shorter and shorter phrases.

"They are coming, and quickly," the queen almost growled as she paced back and forth in the meeting room, as much to think clearly as to keep warm. The cold was seeping in through the walls and the sparkling fire was only barely keeping the room warm. Yuniko was dressed in a white dress with a beautifully yellow wool scarf covering her neck and shoulders.

The council said nothing. They were one man short, the eldest of them having fallen victim for the cold. The nights were as cold as midwinter already. What wouldn't they be in a month?

Malin stood with Joey under his winter cloak. She had a slight fever and Yuniko was worried sick about her. Malin wasn't the only one. The servants of the castle were always moving and some of them had to go out once in a while. The constant change of temperature was more than their bodies could handle and led to fevers and colds.

With a sudden growl Yuniko swirled around. "Gather the soldiers and noblemen in the throne room. I have made my decision. This war must come to an end."

* * *

The throne room. So many memories this room held. This was where Malin's family had faced the king and prince and been judged, here Lord Thomas had proposed to Yuniko, in here Lennart Martinsson had made the queen laugh, in here Ken had been judged and forgiven. In this room Scotland's monarch and patron saint was about to change history.

"My people," the queen started where she stood above all heads like so many times before. Her eyes were clear and serious and her face calm. "I have an announcement to make. I believe you all know Scotland is protected as long as I sit on the throne." Heads bopped up and down silently affirmative. "Still, from this position I can only protect. From here I can not defend you."

Malin looked up at her queen. She had been staring at the floor, wrapped in Joey's warm cloak, trying hard to concentrate. At the bottom of the stairs the soldiers also looked up. They were all dreading what was to come next.

"You are right," the queen answered their disbelieving gazes. "In order to defend the kingdom I have to step down from the throne."

Shocked gasps and mumbles went through people in the room and the servants eavesdropping outside. The queen raised a hand before the protests started.

"Have no fear, my people. I will not abandon the kingdom or you. I am well aware Scotland needs a strong monarch." Yuniko looked down into Joey's honey eyes. "Come here, Jonathan Edwardson."

Very hesitantly and with his stomach sinking in dread Joey slowly stepped up the stairs and kneeled in front of his queen.

"Two years ago you and your brothers with servants were caught in the woods as horse thieves." Joey had to stop himself from looking up at her puzzled. He wondered where she was heading, but dreaded the end of her speech. "Your father was no honourable man, and he was punished for his folly to use his sons to steal. Though, since your older brother took the place of your father your name has been cleared."

Outside the servants were whispering, all wondering why the queen had suddenly changed subject. Inside the throne room the people were silent, but they were wondering the same thing. Mokuba stood with Ryouko and Kyoko in the side door and frowned in puzzlement along with Ryouko, but Kyoko's eyes were slowly filling with recognition.

"Is she serious?" Kyoko breathed.

"What?" Ryouko turned to her younger half sister.

"Jonathan Edwardson, you too have proved you are an honourable man. You are loyal, strong and determined, though also a little hot-headed."

Sweat was forming on Joey's forehead as he slowly started to realize exactly what the queen was about to do. 'Please God, no,' he prayed.

"It is therefore, to prove my devotion and faith in you," Yuniko raised her hands to the crown sitting on her head and removed it, "that I give the throne of Scotland" the crown fell and landed on Joey's head "to you."

* * *


	32. May God have mercy

**"May God have mercy"**

"You can not do this to me!"

"I have no other choice."

"Yuni. Please, I beg of you. I can not be king. I am a soldier. I am-"

"Now Scotland's monarch. You are raised with nobility and still act that way. Your training here has given you ability to fight and Adam is very proud and very found of you. He will be loyal to you and know you will listen to him. The servants too like you and will not protest to your orders since they all know you have been hand picked by me."

"But I can not rule a kingdom!"

"You have never left my side for the last two years. You know me well, the council know you, the soldiers trust you. With Malin by your side as well you have nothing to fear."

Joey stared desperately at his now friend only. He still thought of her as his queen, the rest of the castle with him, to the rest of Scotland she would always be the true queen. Yuniko was dressed as a man and was preparing Unicorn. She would ride out to meet the vampires coming by nightfall. The moment Yuniko abdicated the throne the barrier fell, giving the vampires free access to the kingdom.

"How long had you planned this for?"

Yuniko looked up at him, calm and safe. "Quite some time. You have always been my only choice if abdication would prove to be the only way out. I have waited as long as possible, but I can not wait any more. With the vampires breathing in my neck and my people dying from cold I was locked in a corner." She turned to him. "Please understand, Joey. I have no other choice. I am not sure I will survive this war. I can not leave Scotland without a ruler and I can not leave my people without protection."

"But me!?"

"Who else?"

Joey thought hard. Someone, anyone must have been a better choice. "G-governor Duke?"

Yuniko almost laughed. "No. I agree governor Duke is a strong and suitable man, but he is not humble, or strong enough. The governors run their small patches of land, to run the entire kingdom would be too much for any of them. And name one nobleman who would be able to put up with the people, my council and soldiers, without putting up barriers between them and himself."

Joey listed all the names of Scottish noblemen in his brain, and to his desperation he found Yuniko was right. Among all the high-ranked people in Scotland, he was the one most suited to sit on the throne, after Yuniko.

"What about Malin?"

"She has never held a title or high position in her life. The council would never accept her as a queen, even if they love her."

"Milady?"

Yuniko turned to Malin and smiled warmly. "You heard me. You do not want the title anyway."

"True," was all the young woman managed to say.

"Joey will take care of you from now on. Right?" Yuniko gave Joey a look that said she would never forgive him if he refused.

"Yes, yes of course. I can not rule the kingdom without Malin. She knows you much better than I."

Outside the stables the entire castle had gathered to see their queen… their patron saint, leave. They all wondered the same thing.

"Will I ever see you again?"

Yuniko's hands stopped moving over Unicorn's soft skin and she sighed.

"Malin." Yuniko walked up to her and place her gloved hands on her best friend's shoulders. "I have told you before. You are doubting me now, so I will repeat myself. Never forget that I love you."

Malin's eyes, already clear from held back tears, looked into her friend's, and her dam broke. She cried onto Yuni's shoulder, just like a small child. She never noticed Ryouko and Kyoko coming in and joining them. Joey noticed the déjà vu and smiled sadly as he embraced them all.

"You should leave soon, Yuni," Joey stated after a long while. "The dark is closing in."

Yuniko's face lifted from Kyoko's hair. She was growing tall. "Yes. I should."

"We will be with you," Ryouko said softly. "All the way we will be with you."

Yuniko hugged them all tightly for a second before she gently forced them off her. "I have one final favour to ask of you."

* * *

The gate was still closed when Yuniko left the stable with Unicorn. Sky was sitting on top of the low building, waiting for his mistress to come out. He squeaked happily at the sight of her.

Nothing was said as the abdicated queen mounted her white mare and turned her towards the gate.

"Open the gate. Let our hope out," Joey called with a finality that could not be objected. The guards reluctantly obeyed and the people parted as Yuniko passed them. Some of them had never seen the queen up close and they reached out to touch he cloths and boots as she passed, never trying to grab or stop her.

As she was about to completely leave the castle grounds Yuniko turned and lifted her hand. Sky sat on her shoulder and spread his wings and squeaked at the people.

"Wish me good luck," Yuniko called before she once again turned Unicorn and galloped down the wide path before turning north towards the field before the northern forest.

Kyoko was the first to move in the direction of the staircase leading to the top of the great wall. From there they had a view over what happened on the field. Ryouko and Malin were short on her heels and Joey soon after them. When Adam noticed their direction he too followed, and after him came the soldiers. The great wall was soon crowded with people trying to see what was happening on the field before the northern woods.

Stones stood there, pointing at the sky, hundreds of them. The victims of this war since prince Atemu's death.

Sky floated high over their heads, his sharp eyes taking in the home of their enemies far away.

Almost as soon as the sun disappeared the darkness lowered over the world. As if the night was in a hurry to arrive. The full moon was hidden somewhere above along with her stars. The field soon disappeared in the darkness.

* * *

Yuniko rode as fast as Unicorn's legs could carry them. The white mare almost flew over the hard, cold ground, so quietly Yuniko thought they actually did. Sky sailed on the winds above. Luckily both he and Unicorn had started to grow their winter furs, so he wouldn't be cold up there.

They arrived to the field the same moment the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving the woods surrounding the field in shadows.

She could feel them. They were eager. Sanguis had, along with his high-ranked vampires, felt how her barrier fell and knew the time for battle was finally here. Yuniko had to fight back her sickness. The evil was so strong and dark. She remembered when she was still a child and felt this cold for the first time. Back then she had labelled the feeling as "Wrong". Now when she was older she realized that word was the one best suited for the feeling. It was "Wrong".

A soon as there were no more light in the west the vampires started moving. It felt like a tsunami of icy darkness, wrongness. Sky came down and rested on Yuniko's shoulders. All three of them were strangely relaxed and calm. Had Malin seen her friend like this she would certainly have a heart attack.

They were moving so fast. The dark was so intense the cross around Yuniko's neck started to glow, a light surrounding the three where they waited.

Yuniko could see them now. Dark creatures, black shadows against the somehow brighter sky. They were all there. More than half of them were former Scottish people, some of them she knew, most she had never heard of. But she could feel each and every one of them, and her heart cried out to their deaf souls to forgive her for being unable to protect them.

The vampires landed in front of the northern woods, restless, eager to feed off of the Scottish people. The army was surrounded by the sound of wings, teeth, claws and bodies.

A soft, warm breeze blew Yuniko in the neck and she knew God stood behind her, watching over her. She smiled reassuringly at him. She was not afraid. Unicorn snorted, like in agreement and Sky clapped with his beak.

A lonely vampire stepped out of the line and crossed the field until she could see his face. All blood left her head when she saw the state of her older brother. His eyes were glowing blue with hatred, his skin was sickly white and sharp teeth were visible between his parted lips.

"Alone, Battle Princess?"

"This war started because of me, brother. I am here to right my faults."

Atemu, her beloved brother once, laughed. A cold, cruel laugh. "Right your faults? For that you would have to do more than fight, Battle Princess. But battle is all you know and all you can. A shame. You are beautiful and intelligent, Battle Princess, you could have been something more."

Yuniko swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. Nothing could have prepared her for this. Not him. Not her brother!

"What do I have to do to right my faults, brother?"

He looked at her, confused and surprised. "You call me brother?" He grinned a toothy grin before he threw his head back and laughed. Yuniko felt sick again, her head was spinning and her ears could only hear the insane laugher of the one born as her brother.

"You should not laugh, brother mine," Yugi said with Yuniko's mouth, causing the vampire's hysterical laugher to subside. "You may have forgotten you loved me once, but I will never, because I will always love you."

"You are not sane, Battle Princess."

Yuniko looked into his eyes. She realized her brother was not there. It was only a mix of emotions; his hatred, his despair, his love, his agony, his desire… and someone else's mind. It was all mixed together until Atemu had forgotten who he was. Who she was.

"I am completely sane, brother."

Atemu just ginned and went back to his eager vampires.

Sky started shifting his weight from one foot to the other and spread his wings, ready to take flight. Unicorn also started to stomp the ground, prepared to attack.

Yuniko drew her sword and raised it over her head, pointing at the dark sky above.

* * *

On top of the great wall of the white castle stood Yuniko's people staring into the darkness of the north. Joey, Scotland's new king stood beside Malin, who held onto his cloths for dear life. Ryouko and Kyoko stood side by side, holding hands and with securing hands of friendly soldiers on their shoulders. No one was crying.

"_I have one final favour to ask of you."_

Kyoko released her sister's hand and Ryouko raised her bow and aimed her arrow north towards the sky.

"_You two possess great powers."_

Malin released her hold of Joey and echoed Ryouko's movements, raising a knife.

"_Use those powers to protect the white castle"_

Kyoko had a hold of their skirts and Joey placed a safe hand on a slightly shivering Malin.

"_I __**will**__ be victorious. So protect yourselves and the castle for me."_

Ryouko's arrow flew with a silent hiss with Malin's knife beside it.

"_Together __you can unlock the barriers between the three times."_

A flash of reflected light was seen far in the north where Yuniko faced her enemies. The light coming from some place in front of the great wall where Ryouko's arrow and Malin's knife had hit something invisible. For a second Malin, Ryouko and Kyoko looked at their past and future selves. Time itself was now protecting the white castle where she watched her ruler fight in the darkness.

The vampires started moving towards her.

"May God have mercy"

* * *

_Somewhere in time the Devil came to God and said: "See, I have made a human. Please give him Life."_

_When God refused the Devil grew angry and threw his lifeless doll on the Earth where God's humans lived in peace around the globe. But when he saw it lying there he felt sorry for it. He couldn't give it Life, but he could make it "Live"._

_With his new creation the Devil once again went to God and said: "See, I can too do what you do."_

_But God said: "You have made a human image of yourself. But without Life it can not __Live__. It can not see the light and not taste the food. In the sun he will burn, and in darkness he will be alone."_

_Once again the Devil grew angry and threw his doll away and went back to Hell. But when God went to destroy the doll he saw what it was. Something not dead and not living, yet having one foot on each side._

_Since the doll was partly Living God could do nothing against him and sought out to his humans to help him erase his and the Devil's mistake. Among the humans was a young girl. She had a strong belief in God and prayed three times a day. God sent to her five angels._

"_Be not afraid," the angels told the girl. "We have come in God's name." And the angels told her what had happened and she agreed to help. Then the angels turned into a cross and told the girl to give them to the one God would choose._

_The young girl promised and kept the cross with her through her life. But the one God choose was not born during her life time, so on her death bed the girl gave the cross to her youngest daughter and told her what to do. The daughter agreed._

_For six generations the cross was passed down to the youngest daughter, until it came into Jona's possession. Jona had a prophetic gift and saw the face of God's chosen one. God told Jona to go and find his chosen one, and so she did._


	33. The End

Before you ask me; No, this is **NOT** the last chapter. I have a few more in store, besides, when you've read the story you'll know why.

Oh, and my greatest thanks to s2teennovelist for giving me the idea of Atemu's desire. I'm sure you'll know what you've done when you read it ^^. I'm quite pleased to how this chapter turned out. If I remember correctly it took me an hour to write and correct it all and my heart was beating like a drum. I hope you lot will enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it^^

Don't forget to rewiew when you're done reading!

* * *

**The end**

When Yuniko grew up this field was her playing ground. Here the beasts of the forest watched over her as she played with their cups. Bears and wolves stood side by side with their preys when she was there, for a short second not interested in hunting or hiding. Around Yuniko the forest turned into Eden. Malin had watched this Eden during her time by the princess's side, protected by her light and love.

This field had been Guardian's hunting grounds. He had loved the field since it gave good prays and was near the treasure's home. As Sky grew up he too hunted on the field.

This field was a home to many small animals such as rabbits, mice, moles and voles. Under its green surface was a maze of holes, homes and hideouts.

This field was filled with important herbs. When she was alive Lisa picked her healing herbs here. Solomon sent his personnel to pick spices and ingredients for tea and soup. The stablemen came here to look for the smelly herbs to wash the horses' skin with to get rid of parasites and fleas. In the autumn children from the castle and villages around came here to pick mushrooms that grew on the outside of the northern forest.

This same field had seen the battle between the Battle Princess and the ghouls the Vampire Lord had sent for her. It had seen the princess's strength and determination. It had seen Father Scot be killed.

On this field stood a large number of stones, with and without names. An empty graveyard where people came to mourn and pray to God to spare their loved ones' souls.

Here, on this field that was so important for so many, Yuniko, former queen of Scotland, the Battle Princess, faced her tormentors, some of them having had their names carved on the memory stones.

* * *

Yuniko felt it like a tsunami of sharp, deathly ice came towards her when the vampires broke their lines and headed for her.

_We must break through to brother_, Yugi said.

_This is the last battle_, Yohim said. Her memories of the battle she had fought five hundred years ago were so clear she shivered.

God breathed into Yuniko's neck and she raised her sword and put her heels into Unicorn's sides with an ear-piercing war cry.

Light and Darkness collided in an explosion of something indescribable. The cross around the Battle Princess's neck shone like a star, her sword sending flashes of holy light into the dark beings coming to kill her.

Unicorn's horn shot red flashes everywhere, making it impossible to go near her without being hit by the untamed electricity. Above Sky fought with beak and claws surrounded by his father's protecting golden soul.

Yohim, Yuniko and Yugi were suddenly three different beings. Yohim held out the cross, using its light as a sword. Yuniko on Unicorn's back swung her sword around, cutting through beings she could no longer see. Yugi, not able to use any tool, used pure magic, blue-green, spear-like snakes cutting through the enemies.

Behind the first line of vampires suddenly came another, these ones stronger, older and more experienced. Unprepared as they were Yuniko was hit off Unicorn's back, Sky lost a few feathers of his left wing, Yugi gained a cut in his side, leg and cheek. Only Yohim and Unicorn managed to stay unharmed.

For six whole seconds Yuniko had to fight from a lying position. Unicorn came to her rescue and gave her mistress enough breath to stand, but there would come no chance of getting back up on the mare's back. With these stronger vampires they were all slowly pushed back.

"She is impressive to watch," Crow said with a smirk where he watched in the back.

Atemu said nothing. His eyes stared at the scene emptily, but on the inside his human self fought with all he could to get through everything else that was between him and his sister. But he knew it was already too late. There was no way he could save her now. God had already claimed her.

_Soon_, Sanguis whispered to him. _Soon you will have her. Soon you will have reached your dreams._

Dreams?

A thought broke through the mix of insanity. _I do not want them!_

"Here comes the third line," Yohim warned as the wall of dark bodies subsided.

"How many more?"

"This and one."

Sky was loosing strength. Unicorn was scared without Yuniko on her back. Yugi was hurt in both legs. Yohim had gotten badly bit in the shoulder and her braid was missing, making the lose hair fall into her vision.

Yuniko stood, blood flowing freely from a wound under her left arm and right hip, and sent a powerful wave of white light straight onto the line of red-eyed black bodies. Her move was taken by surprise by the vampires that halted their rush, making them easier targets for the united attack of the Battle Princesses and the two holy animals.

_My blood is poisonous for vampires_. The thought rose in Yuniko's mind without warning and her eyes widened. Wielding her sword with her left arm Yuniko wet her right hand with the blood from her wounds and cast the droplets of blood against the vampires who opened their mouths to taste it. What happened next no one was prepared for. The blood started a chain reaction of white explosions. For a second everything stilled, Yuniko as surprised as her enemies and allied together.

Sanguis suddenly cried out in anger and a wave of pure darkness hit the Battle Princesses, Sky and Unicorn full force.

Yuniko cried as she suddenly felt her own as well as everybody else's pain and wounds. The vampires roared as they were pulled back by their Lord's powers. To him they were mere dolls he played with and used to fight the Battle Princess he loved and hated so dearly.

Atemu felt like throwing up when all the other vampires were suddenly pushed right into his being. Crow backed away, running from his Lord's insane rage.

"He is focusing his power, instead of sending them at us separated."

Yohim was the first to return into Yuniko's wounded being, giving her new energy, enough to stand up for another moment. Yugi put down the warm and bloody body of Sky and followed the past.

Unicorn, lying with two broken legs and seriously wounded, let go of her soul. Yuniko stared at her friend, her partner, her Unicorn, terrified, horrified, knowing exactly what had just happened.

_Always love mistress_, the horse said and gave her soul to the bloodstained cross.

"No." The whisper died in the stillness. From the sables of the white castle a pained neighing was heard. Shadow cried out his grief of his lost daughter.

Sky made a sad sound in his throat.

_Turn around._

Yugi's voice was unbelievingly strong and safe. Yuniko had to obey him.

There, slowly walking towards her, was a being that had once been her brother. His eyes were glowing of insanity, staring at her with only one wish.

_Stand up._ How could Yugi's voice be so safe and determined? _Brother is still there. We must reach him._

Yuniko nodded and obeyed. Yohim was strangely quiet, but she was still there, concentrating on keeping Yuniko standing. Yugi collected the treasure's thoughts, reminding her why she was here, what she protected, why she fought. Why Unicorn had given up her life.

_She could not help you alive._

The being that had once been Atemu smirked evilly at her, its eyes flashing with madness. "Ready to follow your pet's example?"

"When I have freed you, my brother." The treasure's voice was calmer than her eyes. But the clear, blue gaze was steady. Her mind was set, her heart was beating. She was still alive.

Sanguis stared at her through his monster's eyes. "Free who, Battle Princess?"

One chance. They would both have only one chance.

Sanguis monster loaded a ball of pure, dark emotions, shadows and the ashes of vampire corpses covering the ground.

The Battle Princess held her sword and filled it with all her wishes, her belief and the one single dream she had ever allowed herself to dream. They launched at each other.

* * *

At the great wall of the white castle stood queen Yuniko's friends, soldiers and servants watching the explosions of light on the shadowed field north of them. It was past midnight already and no light could be hinted from Heaven. Most of the people were crying, giving up before the end of the battle. It was so easy to do so. The queen had said so herself; "Humans can not fight vampires". But the queen was a human.

Somewhere among the people stood a small group with dry and almost unblinking eyes. Malin was holding onto the wall's stones with Joey's safe arm around her shoulders. Honda stood with his white hands on Kyoko and Joey's shoulders. Ryouko held hands with her guard and in the middle Kyoko held her sister's and Malin's hands in a firm grip. She was calm and safe, like a cliff in this storm of emotions raging around her. Her blue eyes followed the glowing blue being in the darkness that ruled beyond the barrier they had created.

From somewhere inside a song rose through Kyoko's throat. It came from the past, it came from the future, it came from now, it came from outside, it came from within. It came from everyone and everywhere and from nowhere.

She started to sing.

_Tell me what has happened_

_Why is the sun not shining?_

_And why is the moon and stars not joining us tonight?_

_But the light in the princess_

_Is lightening up her kingdom_

_Darkness can not hide it_

_She is shining even now_

_---_

_Sun and moon and all the stars_

_Hope is guiding all our hearts_

_She, beloved queen, will never leave our side_

_In her light there is no fear_

_She is drying every tear_

_Never in the known time has a heart shone pure like hers_

_---_

_Let this nightmare end soon_

_And let our queen be unharmed_

_Free the kingdom from what has tormented her so long_

_Give us hope forever_

_Our princess, let her return_

_Let no darkness hurt her_

_She is all to us who watch_

_---_

_Sun and moon and all the stars_

_Hope is guiding all our hearts_

_She, beloved queen, will never leave our side_

_In her light there is no fear_

_She is drying every tear_

_Never once in my life have I heard of light like hers_

* * *

Sanguis's monster cast his dark spells at God's chosen one. Yuniko cut through the first with her sword. It broke apart from the intensity and she had to throw it away. Still she launched forward.

The second spell she cut through with her magic. She came through, but her skin got torn in the sharp shards of the broken force. She could not use it a second time.

The third spell. Sanguis's monster would have no more to throw after this one. She was close, so close. Just three more steps.

'God help me!'

A golden soul passed her from above. Sky and Guardian cut through the third spell, clearing the way of their loved treasure.

The cross flashed in Yuniko's hand, its long end suddenly sharpened to a long dragger.

Sanguis's mind left the body of his created monster, leaving it with a feeling it was unfamiliar with; Fear.

God's cross buried itself in the monster's body.

* * *

__

_Sun will shine tomorrow_

_Moon comes out from its hideout_

_Stars are twinkling down at us who wait for her return_

_Princess of our hearts' hope_

_Queen of sun and starlight_

_We will always love her, though she never may return_

* * *

For a second that stretched into eternity everything stilled. Nothing moved, nothing breathed, nothing saw or heard. It lasted for only a second.

_Sanguis's monster exploded. All the beings that had been within it were set free. Freed from the chains of life, freed from pain and hunger, freed from their mad desires, and freed from what had tormented them for so long._

_God's breath blew them all in the face and opened his Heaven for them, welcoming them all with open arms. They cried tears of joy, relief and gratefulness and God took them into his arms._

_One of them stayed behind._

"_Sister."_

"_You are free now, my brother." Yuniko was smiling, looking at her brother in a world that didn't exist for anybody else. But Atemu didn't seem happy. He fell to his knees in a sign of utter defeat._

"_I am so sorry, my sister. I am so sorry."_

_Yuniko kneeled down in front of him and placed her hands on his slumping shoulders. "I am the one who betrayed you, brother. I am the one asking you for forgiveness."_

_Atemu shook his head. "To me, you were always a little girl in need of protection." Teardrops hit the floor he sat on. "Forgive me for not understanding, I could never protect you. From anything."_

"_You are forgiven. Forever forgiven, my brother. I love you, and love forgives everything."_

_To Yuni's utter surprise and horror Atemu seemed even more devastated at her soft declaration._

"_You have become a saint," Atemu said softly, lifting his head a little._

_Yuniko looked at him in concern. "Yes. I am God's chosen one."_

"_God is jealous," Atemu almost hissed, reaching up and grabbed Yuniko's upper arms. "He wanted you to himself. God's saints must be virgins. If anything threaten their virginity… God rather kill his saints, than let them be taken from him."_

_Yuniko paled slightly. "Brother…"_

"_I did not want God to have you. I wanted to make sure you never became a saint. That way God could not claim you as his own." Atemu looked up enough for his younger sister to see his eyes, filled with regret, self-contempt and grief. "I wanted to have you. My desire was to steal you from God, so that we could always be together, even in death."_

"_What are you talking about, brother?"_

"_Do you not know?" Atemu looked up at her for the first time. "God's saints are not allowed into Heaven. They must stay behind on Earth and watch over the world."_

_Yuniko felt only surprise. "I must stay on earth?"_

_Atemu suddenly started to lift from where he sat, on his way to Heaven where God awaited him._

"_I wanted to be with you. I wanted us to always be together." Their arms glided over each other in vain attempt to stay together, but Yuniko was too heavy and still alive. She was not allowed to go with him._

_She smiled at him, tears filling her eyes for the first time in a long, long time. Last time she cried was when her brother died. Now she did it again, because now he finally was allowed to die. "I love you anyway, brother," she said through her tears. "And we will be together again. I promise you that."_

_Atemu's hands were ripped from her grasp, but his tears still rained down on her like snow._

When the light faded Yuniko stood in the middle of the battle field with her arms raised to the sky where she had last seen her beloved brother. She would never see him again in this life.

Sanguis, furious at the loss of almost his entire army, stepped out of the forest and launched at the young girl who stood there. She noticed him and let her arms fall, staring at him approaching. Yohim's tired eyes looked out of Yuniko's, looking for the man she loved within the monster that wanted them dead.

In the darkness behind Sanguis though suddenly something much darker than human are able to imagine appeared and a huge hand reached out and grabbed the monster in his dash.

**I am sorry**

The words were cold and without a voice, but the Devil was at least kind enough to leave the humans his doll had devoured behind and only pull his created being back with him. God picked up the lost souls and with one final breath left for his holy throne above in the light.

* * *

_Sun and moon and all the stars_

_Hope is guiding all our hearts_

_She, beloved queen, will never leave our side_

_In her light there is no fear_

_She is drying every tear_

_Never will I leave this spot if she does not return_

* * *

On the field where princess Yuniko had played as a child, where she had loved the animals, where animals lived and herbs the humans needed grew, now stood a lonely statue of white stone, her arms rides towards the sky above. Around her, when spring returned, life would return, grass and herbs would grow and new animals would make their home in the soil. But now it was a chaos of blood, ashes, long dead corpses, limbs and broken weapons. Among the corpses were a golden eagle and a white mare, both of them covered in blood.

When the day returned Joey took a few soldiers, Malin, Ryouko and Kyoko with him to the northern field. There they found the bloody chaos the night's battle had left behind. Malin kneeled by Unicorn's corpse for a long time, who knows what she remembered or what she thought of. Kyoko picked up the body of Sky and held it close to her chest. There were no tears shed until they realized what the white statue in the middle of the chaos was.

"Yuniko…" It was just a whisper, but it completely broke the dam of all the people who heard it. Malin stared at the statue's calm face with tears streaming down her cheeks in uncontrolled rivers. Some of the soldiers fell to their knees and buried their faces in their hands. Their stronger friends put vainly comforting hands on their shoulders, because they cried just as much as their kneeling friends. Ryouko and Kyoko stood leaning on each other sobbing quietly.

Joey, standing in front of the still statue, felt like he was dying, ripped apart from inside out. Yuniko. Scotland's beloved queen, the guiding star of the kingdom, the protector of the people and so much more. How was life going to continue for them all, now when she was no longer with them?

He touched the statue's face and placed his forehead against the cool stone.

'You can not leave,' he thought to the statue. 'You can not just leave us.'

Warm hands suddenly cupped his cheeks, drying the tear that just fell. _I will never leave_.

Joey looked up, but only saw the unmoving face of Scotland's former queen. Yet he still felt the warm touch on his cheeks. He straightened his back and wiped away his tears.

"We must bury the dead bodies."

"Jo… Sire. We can not…"

Joey, the new king of Scotland, turned to them. "She would have wanted it so. We can not leave Sky and Unicorn here. Have you forgotten how much she loved them? Have you forgotten they were the only ones she allowed to come with her to fight this war?"

Ashamed the soldiers looked down.

"Yuniko is still here among us," Joey said as steadily as he could. "We will always love her in our memories. She was… she is a saint. She has not left."

Kyoko suddenly voiced her opinion.

_Sun will shine tomorrow_

_Silver smile of moon rays_

_Heaven, Earth or below_

_She will never leave our side_


	34. Back home

Short side notice; I have a DeviantArt account now and will publish my images from this story (and other stuff) there, so please check it out. I believe you'll find it interesting. My name there is Mjus1.

**THIS CHAPTER IS REPOSTED BECAUSE OF CHANGES IN THE TIMELINE.**

* * *

**Back home**

It was something strange in the air this morning. Dr. Lou went through the corridors on his way to the Dreamers' room with a strange feeling in his chest. He hadn't felt anything like it in the four hundred years he had wondered this earth. Was Crow here? No, it was no unpleasant feeling. The fact it was a feeling made it very clear it was good. He hadn't felt the taste of emotion since he was alive.

As he stepped up to the door he suddenly stopped. Some part of him knew what to find on the other side. The other parts dreaded what it could be. He opened the door.

It had to be the loveliest scene he had seen on earth. In the open window sat the young Yugi Atemu watching the sky. He looked relaxed, his hair in order and skin perfectly white. But when he turned around his eyes were blue. A very familiar and longed for pair of crystalline blue eyes.

"My daughter," he whispered. Yuniko smiled.

"It is time, father. You no longer have to be here."

King Loutus went to his daughter, embracing her with his entire being. "Thank you, daughter."

* * *

Bakura and Yami were the first two to arrive to the hospital that morning. They silently agreed to wait for the others to appear, but stood on different sides of the gate. As if they would ever show any sign they could possibly get along.

"Hey guys." Jono looked from one to the other. "Getting along as well as always I see."

"Where're the others?" Yami asked.

"On their way, I suppose," the blond shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think they would come this far only to dash out of it."

"You're actually right on that one," Honda said as he walked up to them. He cast a look between Yami and Bakura. "And you're as good friends as usual. Good to see something's normal at least."

"Here I am. Sorry to keep you waiting," Anzu called as she ran up to them. She was dressed in jeans and pale yellow blouse that went well with her skin and hair.

"What took you so long?" Bakura asked, being the jerk he was in the morning, though they hadn't waited for more than fifteen minutes the most.

"Quit being a jerk for once so we can find the doc in civil manners."

Bakura cast his enemy a poisonous glare, but decided it wasn't worth snapping back at him.

They entered the hospital and Honda went to the desk to ask the nurse there for Dr. Lou.

"Dr. Lou is busy for the moment," the old lady said.

"Is he with the Dreamers?"

The nurse frowned suspiciously at him. "Visiting time is not open yet. You will have to wait another two hours."

Jono grabbed Bakura's shoulder before said albino could stomp up to the desk. "She's just following the rules," he hissed at his friend.

"As if we have been ditching school for the last week only to be stopped by some goddamn _rules_."

Jono exchanged a glance with Yami and Anzu. Bakura actually had a point there.

"Yea, we're probably far behind in about all subjects," Anzu mumbled.

"Oh, it's you."

The gang looked up and saw Linn, the nurse that had a few days ago told them about the rumours about the Dreamers. Honda had given up his tries on the desk nurse and walked up to them.

"You are here to visit the Dreamers I suppose," Linn smiled.

"Yes we are," Yami smiled back. "But visiting time hasn't started yet it seems."

"Oh, but the Dreamers room are always open. Dr. Lou said so himself after he returned when we thought he disappeared. Since there is no telling when they will wake up or if they will say or do something in their sleep he thought it best to leave their room open for visitors."

Bakura smirked. "Rules are for losers," he stated and started to follow the corridor leading to the Dreamers' section.

"I thought we were here to talk to Dr. Lou." Anzu's remark stopped Bakura in his tracks. He growled in irritation.

"He's there," Linn said with a calming motion of her hand. "I greeted him when he was on his way to do his daily examination of their state. Since he isn't back yet he should be there still."

Bakura straightened up and picked up his long strides, the others following him after having waved their goodbyes to Linn.

* * *

The corridors echoed eerily from their footsteps. Bakura, who already felt tense, felt his stomach sink in dread. Why were the corridors so silent? Shouldn't they hear other doctors and nurses do their examination of the other patients in the rooms they passed? Had something happened during the night? Had something happened to Ryou?

_Gone to die, not dead and gone._

The last words of the book he had read the night before entered his mind and he quickened his pace. Yami short on his heels. He too found the heavy silence too compact.

Outside the Dreamers' closed door they stopped.

"What's wrong?" Anzu asked.

"Isn't it a little too quiet in here?" Yami asked after a moment of listening.

Honda exchanged a glance with Jono as Anzu tilted her head to listen. No, there were no sounds around them. "You think something happened after we left last night after all? Maybe the reaction just took some time?"

"Whatever did we expect to happen anyway?" Honda asked.

Jono opened his mouth, but stayed silent as a sound of soft feet tapping against the floor was heard from within the Dreamers' room.

The door opened and Malik's purple eyes stared at them all. Then his face broke into a gentle smile.

"There you are." The gang blinked at him. "We have been waiting for you."

Malik stepped aside as he opened the door completely, revealing Yugi sitting on a chair with Ryou and Seto's heads in his lap. They looked up at the visitors and Yugi smiled brightly.

"There you are, brother." He stood and walked a few steps. Then Yami dashed into the room and hugged his younger brother close to him.

Ryou gave Bakura a somewhat wry look before he run into his older brother's arms. "I missed you," was all he said.

"Where's Dr Lou?" Anzu asked as she looked around.

"He has passed on." Yami looked down as Yugi broke free from his grasp. "I set him free."

"What are you talking about?"

Yugi held up something in his hand. It was a small shard-shaped bottle with water inside.

"Your tears," Jono breathed.

"So you remember?" Yugi smiled.

"How could I forget?"

"What's that?" Bakura asked with a confused frown, not releasing his brother.

To almost everybody's surprise it was Honda who answered. "It is her majesty's tears. The vampires used it to protect themselves against the light of day."

Anzu held her head. "Are you trying to tell me Dr. Lou was a vampire?"

Yugi, Malik, Seto and Ryou answered with a unison "Yes".

Anzu had to sit down and Bakura and Yami dropped their jaws to the ground.

Jono pointed at the bottle in Yugi's hand. "That's the shiny thing I thought Lou had in his pocket."

"But actually it was in his chest," Seto explained.

Yami suddenly looked down at his younger brother. "So you are a saint?"

Yugi laughed a bit. "Yuniko is the saint. I am only your little brother Yugi."

"Yes," Malik said. "We are back home at last."

* * *

Two day's later they were all back to school. Yami, Bakura, Jono, Anzu and Honda all got themselves detention for a month for having ditched school for a week for reasons the headmaster didn't believe. Yugi, Malik, Ryou and Seto had a good explanation and proof of why they hadn't been in school. Thanks to Yugi no one seemed to take much notice to Dr. Lou's disappearance. How he had convinced the owner of the hospital not to worry or call the police Yami would never figure out.

However, their next problem was culture class.

"Please hand in your history researches of your piece of art."

Jono and Honda were glared at in their groups, Yami and Bakura stared at each other, blaming the other and at the same time knowing perfectly well why they had abandoned their own work. They still had their analysis though, so at least they were saved from the worst punishment. In Yugi's group they stared at each other.

"Yugi Atemu and his group, you have the weekend to do your research," the teacher declared.

Three pairs of eyes settled on Yugi, who met them with a slight smile and a twinkle in his eyes. As the follow-up work was handed that twinkle increased and the smile grew mischievous. They all leant forward to listen.

* * *

Later that night they were all settled in Seto's room, his being the biggest of them all.

"Yuniko's father was not the only vampire left to this age," Yugi started where he paced in the room. To Malik it was such a familiar sight he had to smile. "There are at least two more."

"How can you be so sure?" Seto asked.

"I can feel them. There is a vampire in the school, and I have my suspicions that Crow survived as well."

"Didn't you say Crow was there during the first Battle Princess's time?" Ryou asked with a look of concern.

"He was. Which just makes him stronger today. Four hundred years ago he was one of the most powerful vampires under Sanguis's command. Today he must be the strongest existent vampire."

"Could it be him in the school?" Malik asked, seemingly not too worried.

"No. If he was I would not have waited to put him to an end. Crow was dangerous four hundred years ago. What is he not today then?"

"His majesty Loutus protected himself with Yuniko's tears," Malik stated. "So Crow should do the same."

"Which means he is able to stay out in the sun," Seto finished.

"That does not matter," Yuniko said with a wave of her hand. "My tears gave them the amount of humanity it took to stay out during the day. Humans live of what the mother Earth can give, not human blood. So he still must leave the tears behind once in a while to hunt. During those nights I should be able to locate him."

"Until then?"

"Until then," Yugi's green eyes returned. "We live our lives as if everything is normal."

* * *

Malik, Ryou and Seto spent much time with Yugi during the weekend. Ryou and Yugi's older brothers were with them and Anzu, whom Yugi and Malik immediately recognized, Honda and Jono joined them as well.

"What happened?" Jono asked Yugi Saturday noon. "What did you dream of?"

Yugi touched the place where Yuniko's blood was left in Jono's very soul. "You already know that, do you not, Joey?"

Ryou and Seto exchanged a meaningful look as both of them reached up to touch the blood that no longer hung in threads around their necks.

Yugi said nothing more about it and Bakura handed him the research they had done while the Dreamers' slept.

"Good work, Bakura," Yugi thanked him, making Yami growl. "And all of you," Yugi smiled, giving most of the papers to Ryou who handed a bunch to Seto who gave half of it to Malik.

"Most of it is good," Seto stated.

"But this is only the princess's history, not the painting's," Malik said, scanning the papers again.

"The painting was false," Yugi said and stood, turning to Bakura. "Where is Ryouko's diary?"

"At our place. Why?"

"We only borrowed it." Yugi glanced at Ryou. "I think it's time we give it back. The owner should know a lot more about the princess and the real painting."

Ryou and Seto looked at each other, suddenly remembering the owner of the painting.

"I think we should do that right away," Malik said and stood.

* * *

With Ryouko's diary securely in Ryou's arms the quartet walked up the short flight of stairs to the old, wooden door belonging to the painting's owner. The name on the door said; Ken Scotte.

Yugi knocked on the door and waited for the heavy steps of the old man to approach the door from the other side. The door opened and a pair of familiar brown eyes stared back into Yugi's green ones.

"Hi mister. We came to return the diary. And to ask some questions."

The old man nodded his grey head and stepped aside. "Come on in, young ones."

Inside it smelled of old wood and stone. The entire house was built with some kind of dark wood, and so was the furniture, covered only with layers of knitted blankets in gloomy colours.

"You have had a lot of free time since last time I met you, have you not." Yuniko's blue eyes looked out of Yugi's face. "Sir Ken."

The old man stiffened and slowly turned. He met the blue eyes briefly before he had to look away. "Yes, my queen."

"You do not have to bring us anything," Malin said as she took her place behind the chair Yuniko had settled in. Ryouko and Kyoko stood by the door.

"I want to." The vampire's voice had a begging in it and Yuniko didn't stop him when he started moving again.

Ken served hot water and some cookies he had brought. The water he put some raspberry leaves in to give it taste.

Yuniko looked at the man who did not dare to look anybody in the face. He was old, broken, and ashamed.

"You never left Scotland, did you?"

Ken's shoulders stiffened before his head fell even lower. He shook his head. Yuniko said nothing more as she took the cup he had placed on the table in front of her.

"Please sit down, Ken. This is your home, not mine."

"My home is yours, your majesty."

Malik took the cup made for him and sat in the hard couch. Ken gave him a surprised look.

Seto and Ryou took their cups as well and joined Malik on the couch.

"We are not here to judge you," Yuniko said. "We are here to ask you what happened."

Ken nodded and sat down on a small stool on the other side of the table. "I could not leave Scotland," he started. "I was too scared. I felt it as soon as I left the castle how small and naked I was. But as long as I stayed in Scotland I knew I would be protected somehow. I did not dare to leave." Silence followed his words, but Yuniko listened along with the three boys on the couch. "But there were vampires in Scotland too. Mr. Hem… you remember him?"

Yuniko nodded, her eyes turning cold at the memory. "He deceived me. I did not know he was a vampire almost until the end. It was through him I learnt what the vampires needed my tears for."

Ken swallowed hard. "Soon after I was banished he came for me. I thought you had sent after me… but he revealed his true self and… well… made me like this." He looked at his hands. "He told me to go to… the Lord. He said he would help me. He did. He gave me your tears and told me to spy on Scotland's people."

Malik leant forward and took a cookie. He seemed relaxed, but there was a wrinkle in his forehead.

"I took the tears and ran off. I did not dare to betray the Lord, I did not dare to betray you again. I was dead, but I was afraid to die. I was… a coward."

The old vampire was shaking. Had he been able to cry he would.

"We defeated the Lord," Yuniko said. "The Devil took him back. There is nothing more to be afraid of."

"There is."

The boys on the couch looked up but Yuniko's face stayed passive.

"Crow is still out there. He comes to me once in a while, asking if I have found you yet. Found the reincarnation of the Battle Princess."

"So Crow did survive?" Yuniko leant back in the armchair, biting her finger. "And he is looking for me?"

"Yes." Ken looked up, but his eyes stayed at her elbows. "I have not told him though. I have not told him about you."

"You should."

Ken stared up into Yuniko's eyes in pure surprise, finding her grinning slyly.

"You should lead him to me. That spares me the trouble of hunting him down."

"Your majesty, this is madness! You can not defeat Crow. He is too powerful!"

Yuniko blinked and Yohim's warm, brown eyes stared at Ken. "But we can." Another blink and Yuniko's blue eyes were back. "We have done so twice already." Another blink, emerald green eyes. "And those two times there were armies of them." Yuniko's blue eyes returned. "We are not alone." Brown eyes glanced at the three on the couch. "We can do it together."

Ken stared. He didn't understand what was going on.

"Now," Yugi started and reached for a cookie. "You're the artist of "The Battle Princess" painting. Could you please tell us about yourself?"

* * *

When Malik came home that night his sister had prepared dinner.

"Welcome home," she said carefully, not meeting his eyes. She hadn't dared to look at him ever since he returned from the hospital.

"Nice to know I'm welcome," Malik said, no malice in his voice, but Isis's shoulders twisted anyway.

Malik looked at his sister. Malin's sister Mina had been cruel and egocentric. Malik's sister was egocentric, but not cruel. He could easily see he didn't have the same sister as back then. He started laying the table.

"You don't-"

"I want to," Malik cut her off, then turned to smile at her. "I dreamt of ten years as a servant. Helping you out feels familiar and natural to me."

Isis stared at him as Malik laid the table with an ease that said he had done it many times before. He had changed, she realized. He was calm and secure. He walked with straight back and a small smile on his lips. Before he had never smiled when doing housework.

"You've changed."

Malik chuckled before turning to smile at her again. "Get to know Milady, and you will find yourself changed as well."

The door opened and their mother's voice was heard from the hall. "I'm home." She entered the kitchen and was met by Malik's kindly smiling face.

"Welcome home… mother."

"Malik…" but the boy shook his head.

"I am not angry, I simply want my family back." The older woman trembled to her knees. "I'm sick of being treated like a rebellious child." All colour drained from the women's faces. "I hate it when you don't believe me when I tell you the truth as it is." Isis didn't move when her brother removed the pot from the stove and placed it on the table. "I'm fed up to be yelled at and blamed when something bad happens."

By now tears were making their way down Mrs. Ishtar's cheeks. Malik walked up to her and forced her to look him in the eye. "And still I love you, because there was a time I knew that love was unconditional. I want to go back to that time, when I didn't have to deserve being loved."

* * *

"Seto-"

"I am _fine_, mother. Really, you're such a hen."

Yukino looked at her oldest son with wet eyes. "You've never said 'mother' before."

Seto looked up at her, then at the ceiling in thought. "I've called you 'mother' always… but that was in my dream."

Yukino sat on a chair with a heavy sigh. "Will you tell me what you dreamed of?"

The young man sighed too. His mother, she noticed those small changes in him the same way she always did. It would make her the greatest mother if she could only lay off with those worried wide eyes of hers. Seto always felt like a jerk when she used them against him. But he still didn't like people eavesdropping.

"Stop hiding behind the door and get your ass over here, Mokuba."

The youngest Kaiba peeked into the room. Yukino gestured for him to come closer and he climbed up into her lap.

Seto thought for a moment, wondering if he should tell them the whole truth or not. "In my dream… you were…" he cast a hesitating glance at his younger brother. "Prostituted."

Yukino's eyes widened and for a second Seto was afraid she would throw a fit. But thankfully she took a deep breath.

"What's a postituted?" Mokuba asked.

"When you get older, son."

"We lived in London during the early seventeenth century. It was you, my older half-sister and me. When you had gained enough money we left the… we left London and travelled through what today is called the UK, from England to Scotland. Back then the four countries were split and only kept the peace up because of the royal affairs (Wales had a princess from Scotland, Ireland got their king from England, and England had a Scottish royal advisor). But it was worried everywhere, and we were going to the north of Scotland where your first daughter waited for you."

"Do we have sisters?" Mokuba asked innocently.

"No, sweetie. This is all in Seto's dream." She lifted her head and looked into her oldest son's eyes. "Who was that daughter?"

"The princess of Scotland."

Yukino's mouth fell open in surprise.

"Before you ended up in London, you were married to the king of Scotland, and had with him two children."

"K-ki-king of… W-what about the other child?"

"Prince Atemu, older than the princess with ten years, died before we arrived." Seto decided against saying the princess's name. "And shortly after we arrived to the white castle you disappeared. The princess took me and my sister in her care, telling us that was what you had made her promise. You had made her promise to protect us when you were no longer there."

The listeners waited for him to continue, but he didn't. "Back then, I always called you 'mother'."

"Why would I no longer be there?"

"Who knows? I don't."

"Wasn't I in your dream too?" Mokuba asked, wanting attention.

"Yes you were, but you were not my brother. You were one of the princess's most loved servants, she treated you well and gave you candy."

"Sounds like a good princess."

"She was," Seto said with a smile, ignoring the worried sting that Mokuba saw whoever gave him sweets as a good person. "She was smart and kind, hardly like the kings and queens you read about in school."

* * *

In the Kazuki's apartment things had changed as well, some of it for the worse. Whenever Ryou saw his brother he flinched, then blinked and then let out his breath with a "Brother", then he would go to hug him.

Sunday noon Bakura had enough. He forcefully sat Ryou down in his kitchen chair and sat down opposite of him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"What?" Ryou looked at him with wide, surprised eyes.

"Don't play dumb on me. You flinch whenever you see me, like I'm some kind of monster that will attack you." At that Ryou made an you-have-no-idea-how-right-you-are face. "So talk to me. What happened?"

"A lot," Ryou answered. "I lived for fourteen years with only me and for thirteen with my younger sister."

"Sister?"

"The dream I had."

"The Battle Princess's half sister?"

Ryou looked up at his brother surprised. "How did you know?"

"We didn't do a little research while you slept/dreamt." He picked up the book he had borrowed from the bookstore five days ago. By now he had finished it. Yami hadn't asked for it anymore so he supposed he would return it to the old lady in the store. "We did a lot of research. I know the whole story, now I wanna know what changed."

"Does Yami and the others know too?"

"Yes, not as much as me though. They haven't read this."

Ryou reached out a hand for the book and Bakura gave it to him. Flipping though the pages and looking at the pictures Ryou soon knew what Bakura knew.

"This was written by Miss Malin," he stated.

"So I have heard."

"Only Miss Malin would be able to write this. No one else loved the princess the way Malin did. She is the only one who would be able to retell the truth to the world, so that no one forgot about her."

Bakura watched his brother a while where he looked at the pictures with love and longing. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes too.

"Answer my question."

"Of course. Malin never knew. No one but the princess knew… and me."

"Knew what?"

Ryou looked up at his brother and his face turned sly. "You are the reincarnation of the princess's lover."

Bakura lowered his head as he felt his face burn, remembering that dream he had had. "And you knew that when the princess's nurse didn't?"

"Yes, because you were a vampire."

"Yes I know… that… I was?"

Ryou laughed wholeheartedly. That was the funniest face his brother had ever pulled. He took a moment to calm down while Bakura stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Aku?"

"What?"

"That was my name, wasn't it?"

Now it was Ryou's turn to gap in surprise. "How did you know that?"

Pink graced Bakura's cheeks again as he remembered his dream. "I have had dreams too… just not… like you."

"And the princess called you by that name?"

"Yes."

Ryou looked off to the side of his older brother's body. "Oh," was all he could say. "Well, the reason I know… maybe I should start from the beginning."

"Please do."

"The princess… the queen told me the night after I met you for the first time how I came to. My mother… when she was married to the late king… the princess's father, she did something that had her banned."

"Yes, I know that part."

"And then, as she fled from Scotland there were a few people who helped her, and you were among them." Ryou looked warily at his brother. "And you went to bed with her, a night Ryouko was made."

Bakura fought against his embarrassment as he tried to figure out exactly what Ryou had just said.

"I was a vampire?"

"Not when you slept with mother."

"…I slept with your mother… Ryouko/you were made that night… I was the princess's lover… I was a vampire…"

"The last two sentences are in the other order; You became a vampire and some years later became the princess's lover."

Bakura's head was spinning. "And why do you flinch when you see me?"

Ryou's voice softened. "Because I remember you as the vampire who tried to take both the queen and me away."

* * *

When Kanaka came home that night she first of all made sure she had two boys home. She made sure to caress Yugi's hair in a tentative try to show she actually loved him.

"I will make oden for dinner," she said softly and made her way into the kitchen. Yugi stared after her and wondered when was last time he cooked. Yuniko had never had to do such a thing, being a royal. He wondered if he still could do it and followed his mother into the kitchen.

"Can I help?"

"You don't have to… Yugi."

"But I want to."

Kanaka looked at him a moment. He noticed how tense she was, how long ago it was she brushed her hair and how much she tried to be a real mother.

"Please."

Kanaka nodded. "Of course."

Carefully Yugi started to mix the ingredients as Kanaka watched the noodles. All the time he could feel her throw long glances at him and at last he decided to look up and smile at her.

"It feels like a long time ago I cooked," he said softly. Kanaka only nodded. "You used to order us to do it, because you were hungry or had a man with you home."

Immediately Kanaka stiffened and the blood left her face. Yugi grabbed her arm when she started to wobble.

"Sit down for a moment," Yugi suggested and then decisively sat her down. "Calm down, here, have some water." Yugi then had to leave her for a moment for it was time to put the other ingredients in the pot. He swirled the ingredients around for a moment before he put the whole pot on the table where Kanaka was shaking with held back tears.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled over and over again.

"I have always had so low thoughts about you I've never even called you 'mom', and you have never noticed. Because Yami did, in hopes of attention."

The tears Kanaka had done her best to hold in escaped her guard and fell in rivers down her cheeks. She sobbed quietly as Yugi continued to talk.

"It was much better when dad was alive. Back then we were a family." Kanaka started to hiccup. "But listen to me now. I have dreamt of eighteen years being loved and protected by everyone around me. People I loved, people who deceived me, people I almost betrayed. I watched my family be taken from me one by one."

The woman on the chair hid her face in her hands and continued to cry "I'm sorry" to him. Yugi kneeled in front of her and took her hands away so she could look at her face. Her eyes held so much regret.

"Listen to me for a change," he said rather forcefully. It made Kanaka flinch and then slowly look into his green eyes, like hers. "Family is not something I am ready to give up one more time. I carry memories I do not want. Yami is my family as my brother, and you are my family as my mother. Let it be that way again. Let us be a family again, as it was when father was alive."

Yami stood in the door and watched them. When Kanaka broke down he came inside and embraced both her and his brother.

"I agree with Yugi, mom," he said softly. "I want to be a family again, like when dad was still here."

Kanaka couldn't answer and only grabbed onto her sons and held them close, like she never wanted to let go again.

_Things will change from now on,_ Yuniko said and looked out the window.

_But if you stay like that for much longer the food will get cold,_ Yohim added with a smile. _What kind of food is this, anyway?_

Sunday evening they gathered in the Kazukis' apartment.

"Well, this is what we have from Ken," Seto said and placed his notes on the table for them all to see, not that they actually needed them. "What next?"

"The first part was to analyse the artwork and find out as much as possible about its background and the artist," Ryou said and looked up at his friends. "That's what we've got here."

"Yea," Yugi said as he rested most of his weight on his elbows, looking at the notes. "We need nothing more than this. The artist is named Ken Scotte, an old Scottish man who loved the Scottish saint enough to create the painting of how he believed she looked like the moment she died. In other words; false. The painting isn't from the seventeenth century."

"You think Ken actually never went back to Scotland?" Malik asked.

"I know he didn't. He was banished and scared of the Lord. Scotland is sacred to him; a place where he can't set his foot for the sins he committed. I think Scotland's ground is the same as a grave for you, you simply don't walk on it."

"But if Ms. Atac asks us why he loved the saint?" Seto asked.

"Ken told us of it, without bending the truth we can say 'The saint was his success and his downfall, he despised her until something happened that changed his heart'. That is all true, we just aren't saying exactly what happened." Yugi smiled innocently.

"You're being sly, Yugi," Ryou accused with a knowing smirk.

"I know. The world would be a boring place without a little slyness every now and then." And all of them started laughing.

"Can I ask you a little question without breaking the merry atmosphere in here?"

"Of course, brother," Ryou smiled and dried his eyes.

"When we researched about the Battle Princess we found two sorts of texts from the same era."

"Yes?" Yugi coaxed him to continue.

"One we could read, the other was not even legible for us. Do you know why we had no troubles reading Ryouko's diary?"

Everybody stared at Ryou who stared at his brother.

"Oh," Ryou voiced when he figured out the connection. And when he realized why. "Oh."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"It is a little complicated, Bakura," Yugi said as he too figured out why Ryouko's diary was legible when the other text, whatever it was, wasn't. "Actually, it's a little more than a little complicated."

"And that means?"

"That it's complicated," Yugi said truthfully, speading his arms with a smile and knowing Bakura wouldn't back down until he got an answer, but two could play that game.

_You are not alone, Yugi_, Yuniko said.

The green-eyed boy resisted the urge to look to his side where he knew the Scottish queen stood, watching Ryou's brother.

"Ryou?"

The younger Kazuki raised his hands in defence. "Don't look at me, brother."

"Why not? You're her!"

Three of the boys sitting around the table stared wide-eyed at Ryou's older brother.

"You think I'm stupid or something?" Bakura asked annoyed. "I told Ryou yesterday we didn't do a little, but a lot of research while you dreamt. There must have been a reason the four of you began dreaming. All four of you, all five of us are reincarnations of people living four hundred years ago in Scotland. Anzu, you know, the brunette girl, was once known as princess Tea, a French princess engaged to the prince of Scotland, Atemu. But before the war began the princess sent her back to France in order to keep her safe. Jono was once the princess's friend and bodyguard and Honda was there as well, but I'm not sure of his role."

Ryou blinked. "Wow, brother. You really did a lot of research."

"Told you so."

Malik and Seto glanced at Yugi, whose eyes had a spark Malin had seen way too many times in her princess.

"You will have your answers," Yugi said calmly. "But not yet. Wait a little."

"How long?"

"When we know everything."

And with that Bakura had to go.

* * *

Before Yugi settled in his bed that night he stood in his widow, watching the city he was born in. It was like any city over the world, typical for the modernism with a touch of nationality. People were the same all over the planet, they only talked different languages and saw different things as good and bad. Like "Nuts" had three different meanings to it. He sighed at his own thoughts. It was so simple to believe there were only humans out there.

"I am a fool," he said to his reflection.

_When I lived we knew the earth was flat,_ Yohim pointed out.

_Just like we now do not know what happens after death._

Yugi had to smile at Scotland's saint's remark. "Yea. I guess. But you should know what happens." He looked at them standing beside his reflection in the glass.

_We may do_, Yohim agreed. _But you do not. You can only believe along with every other living being who can only wonder._

"Yugi, who are you talking to?"

"Myself," Yugi called back to his mother.

"Can I come in."

"Be my guest."

Kanaka carefully stepped inside and looked at him. It was funny. Before he had been dreaming she hadn't let doors stop her from going anywhere in the house.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I was simply having funny thoughts I felt I needed to voice." He looked at her as he stepped up to his bed. "Take a seat?"

The woman stepped up to the bed and sat beside her son. "You want to talk about it?"

"People say life is unfair." Kanaka quirked an eyebrow at him. He bit back his laugh at the sight. "Some people are rich, others have many siblings, and some doesn't have to worry about the next day."

"Where are you going?"

Yugi smiled as he looked up at her. "I've realized life is what you make it. Even if you have no money, you can still see yourself as rich. And if you have no home, you can still have friends and family. It is only those who complain about their situations that are unhappy."

"Yugi…"

"No, I'm not crazy or trying to sound sappy. I'm just… seeing things from a different view."

Kanaka hesitated a bit but then decided against saying anything. "Well then. Good night, Yugi."

"Good night," Yugi answered and crawled into bed as Kanaka made her way towards the door. "Mom."

The red-haired woman froze mid step, her heart leaping to her throat. Yugi had called her "Mom"! She smiled in happiness and resisted the urge to dry her leaking eyes.

"Sleep tight, sweetheart."

When Kanaka was safe in her room Yugi rolled off his bed again and walked back to his window.

'Can you feel it?'

_Like a cold touch on my skin,_ Yohim answered.

_He is coming closer. I would recognize him in a thousand miles_, Yuniko said with a slight hiss to her voice.

'Crow is coming here. Let us wait until he is close enough.'

* * *


	35. Laying out baits

**BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER, READ THE LAST. CHANGES MADE MUST BE READ IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S UP AHEAD!**

This month I will update early because tonight I'm going to turkey (big grin). I hope you'll enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to tell me what you think of it.

* * *

**Laying out baits**

Monday started a little different in the four Dreamers' homes. Bakura was up first with the breakfast made when Ryou made it to the kitchen (that was a very rare occasion), Kanaka had made lunchboxes for her sons (she had never done that before), Yukino had made something special for lunch for hers (which she only did on their birthdays), Mrs. Ishtar patted Malik's hair when he came into the kitchen and Isis let him go first into the shower because her first class started later than his (before she had occupied the bathroom for half an hour even when she knew Malik had to hurry away).

The night before Yugi, Yuni and Yohim agreed to wait with their next draw until Crow was close enough. Close enough it was. When Yugi walked to school his hair stood out from his body like thin spikes. It still surprised him the hairs on his head didn't stand straight out from his head like an explosion.

"Hi Yugi," Ryou greeted when the tense youth appeared to their usual meeting spot.

"Crow is _very_ close," Yugi hissed out the corner of his mouth, a long emphasis on 'very' to make his best friend understand just how close the old vampire was.

"How can you tell?" Ryou asked softly, making sure the people who passed wouldn't pay it any mind.

Yugi pulled up his sleeve and swiftly showed Ryou how his skin was covered with goosebumps. Ryou had to stare even as the sleeve recovered the arm.

"Is that normal?"

"I suppose. Before I never noticed the raise of my hairs as it was always cold when they approached. Now when it's warm it's different. I feel the warmth on my skin, but the sensation of him near is freezing me up from inside. I'm so cold. Please tell me if my hair start lifting."

"…Sure. Whatever you want." Then he became serious. "Could he stand around the corner?"

Yugi shook his head with an assuring smile. "No, I may not be able to tell the exact distance, but I will know before we dump into him. He's in town, that's all I know."

"Hey, Yugi, Ryou!" The teens turned to see Malik and Seto run up to them from the school gate. "Hey guys, have you read the newspaper this morning?" Malik asked, waving with this morning's paper.

"No, the paper's brother's in the morning," Ryou said.

"And I never have time." Yugi turned to the classmate of his brother. "What are you doing here, Seto? Your class won't start in half an hour yet."

"Making sure you've checked the news."

"You really should check this out." Malik held up the centrepiece and both Yugi's and Ryou's eyes widened. In front of them, smiling charmingly from the painted paper was no other than Crow in the flesh.

"Pegasus J. Crow arrives to Japan." Yugi's voice was soft like a breeze.

"There's more," Malik said lowly and lowered the paper. "This man is CEO for my father's corporation. I found dad by the table this morning and he said he would rather live in his own home when he worked so near and then he showed me this."

"Even more," Seto said from his place behind Malik. "It was on the news this morning. This man is among the richest in the world. No one knows where he comes from, if he has family or anything. There are no certain dates for birth or age or such things but he is very interested in women between twenty and thirty of age. However. No one seems to notice where his women go to, or that they disappear like they were never there in the first place. He always keeps the headlight on himself and nobody seems able to move it away from him."

"Did they say all that on TV?" Ryou asked.

"No, I checked the web."

"That's our Crow alright," Yugi said bitterly, his eyes a haze of green, blue and brown.

Before anything more could be said the bell rang.

* * *

Crow's arrival was the talk all around school that day. All four kept their eyes open for news of why he was in Japan. During lunch break they gathered in the library with every newspaper and reportages from the internet they could possibly find. Malik held up a paper.

"Here it says it's the first time Crow, or Pegasus as he calls himself now, is officially in Japan."

"First time _officially_," Yugi emphasised. "That means he's been here before. Probably to grill Ken about the princess."

"Not only him." Seto pointed at a line in the paper. "Here it says that he has some _friends_ here. More than one."

"Yes, he must know the late king was here as well."

"But the king would never give her reincarnation away, right?" Ryou said hopefully.

"No. The king died when he protected the princess, that was his purpose of… staying alive?"

"I think the phrase you seek is 'stay among the living'," Malik said helpfully.

"Yes, that was the one. Thanks Malik. However, the lack of personal data doesn't seem to bother anybody much. It's the mystery that keeps him interesting."

"It sure as hell bothers the police and politicians," Seto informed, holding up another paper. "He refuses to go to the dentist as well. There are no records at all about visits to a doctor or dentist or anything the like. He's never sick and never seems tired. And the lack of family appears to be a sore spot."

The other three stared at him. "Where did you get those data?" Malik asked.

"I'm good with computers," was his only answer. "The thing is; Pegasus is abnormally healthy."

"Of course he is," Yugi almost hissed. "He's dead, he's nine hundred years old and the females he feed on keeps him going. That man's become even more of a devil than Sanguis."

"Who's Sanguis?"

The quartet spun around and stood face to face with Anzu.

"Oh, hi. We didn't see you there," Yugi said.

"I see that. Who's Sanguis?"

Ryou, Seto and Malik all looked to Yugi, like Ryouko, Kyoko and Malin had looked to Yuniko.

"Many people," Yugi said.

"A sect?"

"No, one person made of many."

Anzu frowned at him. "You mean like Frankenstein or something?"

"No, one whole body with many people in."

Anzu lifted a finger as she tried to come up with an explanation she understood herself. "Now you've lost me."

Yugi smiled. "Some things are not made to understand. You don't have to get it, the important is that someone does, and in this case that someone is me."

Anzu was about to ask something more when suddenly Mr Scot walked up to them. Yugi stood, eyes wide with recognition.

"Mr. Scot."

"It was some time since I saw you, young Mr. Atemu. I heard from your brother."

Yugi stared and Malik frowned in confusion. Malin recognized the face from somewhere far away, but Ryouko and Kyoko had never seen him, and Tea had probably never even heard of him.

"Yes," Yugi said softly. "It was some time since I saw you too."

Mr. Scot smiled a little. "But I doubt it will be the last time we meet. I am history teacher for your brother." He gave her a look that made Yugi smile bitterly. "But I suppose you already knew that."

"Yes, I suppose."

Mr. Scot nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, and by the way. Crow is an old friend of mine and may stop by."

Yugi's heart leapt into his throat and his eyes widened even more.

"What was that all about?" Anzu asked. Yugi was unable to take his eyes from where Scot had disappeared, but he somehow managed his face to smile, though it was visibly strained.

"Irony, Anzu," he said and looked at one of the journals on the table, staring at Crow's picture. "Only irony."

* * *

"**That was**… that was the priest who died that time?" Malik had started his outburst loudly, but when everyone turned their way he lowered his voice to a whisper. The group sat in a café now when school had finished and they kept discussing the Crow problem.

"No doubt about it. I didn't think he'd survive to our time as well."

"Who was he?" Ryou asked.

"A friend of Yuniko's brother. He's the one who revealed the vampires' weakness against crucifixes. But he died trying to protect her about a year after Atemu's death in 1628."

"Was it Crow who killed him?" Ryou asked. Yugi noticed how a man who has just passed them stiffened and took a seat behind him. He saw Seto noticed too.

"No, Aku did. It was Malin and father Scot who followed the princess to the northern field that night, but I don't know how he managed to turn back when she ordered to horses back home."

"He fell off," Malik informed. "Malin couldn't do much to help him and could only hope the princess would protect him."

"Well, it was the other way around actually, though not as successfully as she would have hoped. Aku got angry about his presence and the princess fainted."

"Why?"

"Don't ask me, I don't know."

Seto caught Yugi's eyes and asked silently what he was doing as the man behind Yugi and Ryou was still obviously listening. This time Ryou noticed his gaze and frowned at Yugi. The green eyed boy leaned forward on his elbows.

"It still astonishes me how such a giant can mix with humans."

"That's right," Malik said with a slight frown, showing he had thought about it too. "Crow is so big, and that eye of his too. Are the tears really enough to hide all that?"

"I don't know about that either," Yugi answered. "I'm still confused I could feel his presence so far into the morning. The sensation lasted into second class."

"Can it be his inhumanity that shines through the barrier?"

"His sort can't be more or less inhuman. They have all been humans once, though I'm having my doubts about Crow. Since he served count Dracul his family must have been close to him, or he is a child between Sanguis and some other woman."

"You mean those creatures can _breed_?" Seto asked horrified.

"Beats me, I hope not." Then Yugi sighed heavily. "The past doesn't really make much sense in today's light. The important here is that Crow, or Pegasus, is grilling Ken, and probably had contact with Yuniko's late father and even Scot, only to get his hands on me, and probably won't care if anybody else gets in his way. Tell me one in today's society that honestly believes in the supernatural."

"We do," Seto said blinking. Yugi had to laugh.

"True. But besides us. The mediums? Hardly. They communicate with the dead, but hardly believe in what we are doing, or what Crow actually is. The one eavesdropping in the seat behind me surely doesn't."

Seto, Malik and Ryou all turned to look at the head that tried to hide in his coffee cup.

"Haven't your mother told you it's rude to eavesdrop?" Yugi asked as he stirred his tea before taking a sip.

The man had no choice but to come around, only to be surprised.

"Rashid? What are you doing here?" Malik asked.

"You know him?" Seto asked.

"Of course I do. Rashid is my cousin."

"I didn't expect to find you here, Malik," the man said with his deep voice. He was tall with darker skin than his cousin and black hair tied back into a low ponytail. "You never liked public places."

"Things changes, cousin. Take a seat. These are my friends, Yugi Atemu, Ryou Kazuki and Seto Kaiba."

"Pleasure to meet you, boys."

Yugi's green eyes pierced Rashid's heart with their intensity, before they softened. "Of course. I understand you're interested in Pegasus J. Crow."

Rashid flushed at the smirk covering the young boy's features. He was way sharper than his childish appearance gave him credit for. And he spoke like an upper-class boy. "Yes," he said softly and swiftly passed his ID over the table, revealing his position as detective.

"I see. Well then, I suppose you people are more interested in his shadow than what he does in the light of day."

"I couldn't help but hear you talking about him."

"Of course not, especially not when it involved murder." Rashid flushed again and the three teenagers looked at Yugi, silently asking how much they could tell him.

"Listening to you, it's hard to miss you know a lot about Pegasus."

"I know what I know," Yugi said calmly. Rashid paid little attention to other than him, and Seto had to show him not only Yugi was filled with information.

"Pegasus is only a taken name."

"Yes," Ryou nodded. "His real name is Crow, a monster who kill to live."

"You make him sound like a professional murderer."

"He is," Malik said, much to Rashid's surprise. "In a way, just that he doesn't kill to make a living."

Rashid stared at the younger boy at his side. Malik's face of bitterness he was used to, it was the depth of his eyes that surprised him. He really had changed.

"How long have you lived here?" he asked.

"Oh… two weeks, I think. Why?"

The older frowned at him, not understanding the sudden light he could see in the purple orbs. Had Malik's eyes always been this bright? When was last time he had looked his cousin in the eye?

"I see you noticed the change from the reserved teenager to this sharp-tongued young man." Yugi said with another smirk. He was playing with Rashid as he worked out a plan with Yohim and Yuniko.

_It's risky_, Yohim warned.

'Perhaps,' Yugi answered.

_There is nothing to win if you are afraid to lose_, Yuniko said wisely, and Yugi agreed wholeheartedly with her.

"Back to the subject, please," Rashid ordered. He noticed Yugi was playing with him and wouldn't tolerate it. "You don't have any idea how long the police, both nationally and internationally, have worked to put this guy in chains and throw his ass in prison."

Yugi, Yuniko and Yohim all stared out of the same pair of eyes and right into Rashid's soul, grasping his heart in warning.

"_**You do not know how long this war has been."**_

The three saints released their hold on the human and Rashid gasped for breath. Laying a hand over his chest he made sure his heart was still beating. "W-what..?"

"A simple warning, mister. _**You would do wisely to not anger us again**_."

Malik turned to his cousin, warning and truth in his eyes. "This is way too much for you to understand, Rashid. As long as Yugi is alive Crow must keep himself in a leach. The moment Yugi dies he is free to hide the sun and poison the earth."

"What?"

"Throw his ass in prison?" Ryou almost taunted. "That's the same as leading him to a feast. Don't forget the wine and cheese."

"What the hell are you..?"

"It's no use, mister," Seto said from Malik's other side and glanced at the grown man from the corner of his icy eye. "Humans can't fight the likes of him."

_Seems like we lost of chance,_ Yohim sighed.

_Not yet_, Yuniko cut in, looking sly and exited. _This will save us a lot of time._

Yugi's eyes lit up as Yuniko's thoughts reached him. The queen of Scotland was the same old cunning monarch she had always been.

"Tell me, my friend, what do you know about a woman named Yohim?"

"Yugi!?" Ryou burst out. Seto and Malik just gaped at him.

"Never think I've heard the name before," Rashid said with a confused frown. "That's no Japanese name."

"No, she was a gipsy from twelfth century. But I am positive you've heard about Dracula."

"Who hasn't?"

Yugi shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't really matter. Did you know that the vampire character Count Dracula is based on a real person?"

"Yes I do. Vald Dracul of the Dragon clan."

"What do I hear? You really know your vampires."

"I always loved those stories, but that's not what we're discussing here."

"Yes I am. Let me keep talking and you will know what I mean. Yohim, Ma Yoro as the gipsies named her since she was married, had a cousin Dracul wanted to marry. Since the girl didn't have other relatives he needed Ma Yoro's blessing, which she refused to give. That of course led to some complications which ended with Ma Yoro and Dracul fighting to death."

"Hey, wait a second, that's not how Vald Dracul died."

"And how do you know?"

"I've read all about it."

Yugi smiled strangely, like someone asking a question while already knowing the answer. "And how can you be so sure what you read in those books is the truth?"

Rashid opened his mouth to answer, only to find he didn't have any, so he closed it again. Yugi pointedly raised his cup and swallowed the last of his tea.

"Time is fleeting, and in those days it was the kings who decided what should be documented and what should be left to forget."

"And how can you be so sure your story is true?"

Yohim immediately glared back at him, like he was an insect before her. "Because I was there."

The dark man swallowed thickly as Yugi's green eyes returned.

"Sorry 'bout that. But you really should watch your tongue; Ma Yoro is a proud woman."

"And strong," Seto added with a suspiciously female voice. "The men of our clan didn't respect her only because she was the clan leader's wife."

By now Malik's cousin was way beyond confused.

"Where were we? Oh yes, Yohim and Dracul fighting. However, there is always some straw of truth behind all those wild stories about supernatural creatures like werewolves, ghouls and vampires. Sadly, the true history is today shrugged off as fairytales and bed-time stories."

"Vampires do _not_ exist," Rashid said firmly.

"Of course not," Yugi said as he waved Ryou out so he too could stand. He placed a warm hand on the detective's arm, lowering his voice. "That's why Crow's green eye glows in the dark."

Rashid was pushed to stand by Malik and Seto who quickly followed the green eyed teenager. He stood there holding the place on his arm Yugi had touched. It still felt strangely warm after his touch.

* * *

"What did you do, Yugi?" Malik asked nervously.

"Don't worry about your cousin, Malik," Yugi smiled. "I will protect him the best I can, and I am sure Crow is much too interested in me to have time to hurt him."

They walked in silence for a moment, until Ryou clapped his hands. "Well, I think Bakura said something about making sushi tonight. Anyone interested?"

* * *


	36. Dinner and Puppets

Hey guys. I'm really sorry I didn't update yesterday, but I have my hands full at the moment (I'm going to Paris this monday so I'm trying to pack my suitcase at best ability, I'm trying to solve my finanses for the fall and next year, I'm doing my best to write and in the middle of all this I'm working during the days). I'm lucky time goes slowly today so that I can do more of what I'm supposed to do and add this to my "Do this" list.

Well, enough complaining from me but I want to remind you to review when you've read the chapter. It means the world to me now when I won't be writing this for much longer.

* * *

**Dinner and puppets**

Already the next day they got news Crow had sniffed out Yugi's baits. Mr. Scot came sweeping through the corridors towards Yugi's locker with an "A moment of your time, Atemu" and lead him to his office.

"Your highness, what are you planning?"

"Calm your nerves, Father," Yuniko said with a calming gesture. "I can not allow Crow to stay among the living anymore. The sooner I can finish him the better."

"Princess. Dear, lovely princess, you are highly underestimating your enemy. Crow is just as strong as the army you fought for Scotland's freedom, maybe even stronger."

"I am not underestimating him, Father. As long as Crow has my tears there is little he can do. Without them he loses his ability to stay in sunlight."

"Sunlight never bothered the Lord."

"The Lord was not human to begin with. Crow is, and that is his weakness. Believe me, Father Scot, I know more of him and you than you are ready to admit."

"Are you truly ready to put a thousand years at stake?"

Yuniko looked into the vampire's eyes. "We are. We always were. The first Battle Princess had to fight the vampires with only God on her side. I, the Battle Princess of the present, will never be alone, for the Past and Future is with me." She smiled sweetly. "And God has never abandoned me."

Scot sighed heavily and his cold body shivered. He was scared of Crow, more so than he had been of the lord. And Yuniko knew why. The Lord had never been able to move as freely as Crow could. It's always been easier to run from someone who can't move than from someone faster than you.

"Your majesty…" he whispered before looking up at her again, his blue eyes deep and clear. "Will you be able to do the same to me as you did to his majesty?"

"I could do it now, but I believe I will need your assistance against Crow. You see, it will not be easy for him to see me. Finding me and knowing who I am is one thing, coming to get me is another altogether."

"…He is surrounded by bodyguards and the media," Scot said slowly.

"Bodyguards?" Yuniko had not been prepared for that one, she had never allowed any to guard her. If Crow had bodyguards it could only mean one thing.

"Yes, marionette puppets he can control at will, beings with no will of their own."

"You should know better than me; can Crow see through those puppets' eyes?"

"I admit I am not strong enough to create my own and figure out. But I can tell you those people were living humans once, just as we were. They were probably men given the job as his bodyguards that he later, or immediately, what do I know, turned into what they are now."

Yuniko raised a finger to her lips. This was something she hadn't prepared for. There was a great chance there were more vampires than Crow and Scot around the earth, people killed without being able to die. She would have to check up on that.

"Are they easy to defeat or… confuse?"

"Confuse, no. But I do not know about defeating. Neither I nor his majesty ever tried."

"Those creatures that entered Scotland the night you died, are they similar to them?"

Scot quirked an eyebrow in thought. "Possible. I do not know. Those ghouls were corpses of victims that the vampires returned to the fortress."

Yuniko frowned thoughtfully and reached for Yugi and Yohim. 'What do you think?'

_That we should wait,_ Yugi said. _We don't know how Crow will contact us._

_I agree. We should let Crow take the next step. We have many bites out._

Yuniko blinked when Malik's face suddenly passed her mind from Yugi, and she smiled a little. She had missed the easiest way to come near Crow. 'Thank you, Yugi.'

_Anytime, Yuni._

The princess looked up into Scot's worried eyes. "I will defeat Crow, and I will free you when I am done with him. Until then, please be patient and trust me."

The old priest stared, then he straightened up and bowed deeply for his former princess. "Always, your highness."

* * *

Ryou waited outside Scot's office and fell in beside his smiling friend. "What happened? What did he want?"

"Assurance," Yugi said. "As to what happened; nothing actually. He asked some questions and I answered them. I have new information as well, does Seto have lunch the same time as we today?"

The library seemed to have become their meeting place. Seto strode in and sat at the small table with Malik on his heels, almost running to keep up with the tall teen. Yugi wasted no time, keeping his voice low.

"Crow has taken the baits," he informed.

"Is he coming?" Malik asked, still slightly out of breath.

"That is the problem it seems. He is surrounded by the media, thus making it hard for him to pop up here and have his way."

"That's a good thing," Ryou replied. "We can't fight here."

"True, but there seem to be one thing I almost missed." He smiled at Malik who blinked in confusion. "You said your father worked for him, right?"

"Yes he does. I'm not sure in what department though. I never asked."

"Ask your dad. Your cousin will probably catch Crow's attention, who might mention his relationship with you who is a friend of mine and through Rashid find your father and that way find you."

Malik, Ryou and Seto all stared at him in confusion, not understanding where their friend was heading.

"Don't you see. We gave Rashid some for a realist unbelievable information that, I truly hope, he can't help but mention to someone or some people and that will start a rumour, plus the little touch I gave him for protection. Crow have all eyes and ears out for me and that is a rumour he will pick up on for sure. Through Rashid Crow can find out about his cousin's friends talking bullshit, pretend to be interested in that cousin's father, invite that cousin's father to his place, or invite himself to Malik's father's place. This is information your father will be happy to share with his family, and you Malik, will tell me all about it."

Malik's eyes had grown during the entire speech, and now his jaw lay on the floor. He soon recovered and glared half-heartedly at Yugi. "It's risky."

Yugi snorted in amusement, remembering Yohim saying those exact words the day before. "There is nothing to win if you are afraid to lose," he repeated Yuniko's words softly.

"Is that really the only way?" Seto asked.

"No, but it's the way I hope for."

"Why?" Malik asked with wide eyes. Yugi bit his lip and frowned, his green eyes saying all about how worried he was under his confident shell.

"If a family member of Malik's were to disappear they have friends who would wonder where they had gone to, someone has information etc. Crow has no way to harm anybody without causing a riot. And because the other ways are through Bakura or my brother."

Ryou's eyes widened in horror. "And both of them know about the past."

"That and worse," Yugi sighed. "Crow knows both of them, and I fear they know about Crow."

* * *

When Yugi finally got home that night he found his brother in the kitchen, staring at Crow's picture.

"Brother?"

Yami jumped and spun around, a shadow still left in his eyes.

"Oh, hi Yugi. Didn't hear you come in."

"Just got inside the door. Is that today's paper?"

"No, yesterday's," Yami said and turned back. Yugi got a cold feeling in his stomach and made an effort not to let it show on his face.

"Are you all right?"

It took a while before the elder answered, not because he hadn't heard, he wanted to answer truthfully. "I don't know," he answered at last, not once taking his eyes from Crow's picture. "It's this guy. He seems to be hunting me. When I first saw him I wanted to hunt him down and kill him." He turned to his younger brother with what he visibly hoped was a cheerful smile. "Silly, huh?"

Yugi gave him a sad look. "Not at all, brother." He placed a hand lightly on the paper over Crow's face. A circle, like a ripple on water, shook through the paper and Yami's eyes widened. Yugi took his hand back and turned away. "Not at all."

As Yugi walked out of the room Yami was left staring at Crow's real face, his form sitting on the floor with the moonlight shining through the window lightning up his right side, causing his only eye to glow. It was the image Yuniko remembered from the night before her false wedding.

* * *

Things seemed to happen quickly. Evening that same day Malik's dad came home with the broadest smile ever.

"Hi dad, what's with the smile," Isis asked, her own face smiling because her father's was.

"You can never guess what happened today," the man informed proudly, his chest growing bigger. Malik felt how his stomach knotted.

"Your boss is interested in you and wants to talk about it over dinner?"

Mr. Ishtar gaped at his son. "Wow, how'd you figure that out?"

Malik fidgeted uncomfortably, not daring to answer or look at his dad.

"I see. You're in collusion with Rashid. Mr. Crow mentioned he had met him and they had talked."

"Is he coming here?" Malik asked, trying hard not to let his dismay show on his face.

"Yes, tomorrow he managed to get the evening off. I'm going to escort him here so make sure you appear at your best tomorrow. This may be my great chance."

The phone rang and Isis answered as Malik started to prepare tea for them all. Mrs. Ishtar wasn't home yet, and her husband was obviously bursting with eagerness to tell her the wonderful news.

"Malik's it's for you," Isis called. "Some Atemu."

Malik stared at his sister. "One day I'm gonna figure that guy out. Watch the tea."

Surprised at the answer Isis took over as Malik tried not to rush to the phone. "Yugi?"

"_Malik? What's wrong?"_

Malik sighed heavily, almost in relief. Yugi already knew him well enough to tell when he was upset. "You were right. Crow is coming. Tomorrow. Dad just got home and told us he's gonna escort him here tomorrow evening."

It was silent on the other line for some time. "_Then you must come here tonight. I hoped this would take some more time but Crow is obviously eager to find me. I have something to tell you when you come here."_

"I'm on my way."

"_Good. See you later."_

Malik strode over to the door and grabbed his jacket and almost collided with his mother in the door.

"Malik! Where do you think you're going?"

"To Yugi's. Something's up and I must be there. I promise I won't be too late back. See you. And dad's home. "

Before Mrs. Ishtar had the chance to protest her son was out the door and down the stairs, leaving the building on his way to Yugi's place.

* * *

Yugi was actually waiting outside the door for his friend.

"What is it?" Malik ansked. He was out of breath for running the entire way here. He didn't know the town well enough to dare to take any shortcuts so the run had been longer than it should.

"Here."

Malik's breath caught as he saw the object his friend held out to him. Malin recognized it immediately and her first impulse was to yell and hit. "You cut yourself again."

"I don't know how much effect Yuniko's blood has to this day. I had to do it to ensure you're all safe."

"Ryou and Seto?"

"I was at Ryou's place earlier and sent one to Seto through his mother's people. I thought it could wait until tomorrow, but with Crow so obviously in hurry I doubt he will be still tonight."

Malik still glared at his shorter friend, and Yugi had the shame to break the eye contact.

"You still cut yourself."

Sad blue eyes looked up into Malik's scared and angry purple ones. "What other choice do I have? Crow will notice if I start putting up barriers everywhere. I can't let the world know. I can't let brother know."

Malik looked down and swallowed hard. "I know that." Tears burned behind Malin's eyes. "I _know_ that. That is why I am so scared. I am scared of Crow, I am scared of the future and I am scared of the consequences of this battle. I remember so well, Yuni. I remember the feeling of watching you battle knowing I could not help you, knowing you did not even want my help. I can not even start describing the feeling of seeing you turned to stone."

Yuniko took her friend's trembling hand and placed the red pearl in her hand. "I know you are scared." She closed Malin's fingers around her blood. "I know you are suffering and that I am the cause. But please trust me. This time I really need your help to fight. All I can do until then is making sure you will stay with me."

"Yugi?"

A blink of an eye and Yugi and Malik looked up at Yami in the door.

"What are you doing out here? Why don't you come in?"

"No," Malik said, holding up his fist. "I'm just here to get something I forgot last time I was here. I'll leave right away."

Yami shrugged his shoulders as he accepted the answer. "Well then. It's getting chilly. Come on in, Yugi."

"Okay, brother." Yugi turned back to his Egyptian friend. "I'll see you in school tomorrow."

"Yes, of course."

Right before Yugi entered the house though he turned around. "You remember that night when father Scot died?"

Malik blinked, a second later Malin's memory of Father Scot and the night he had died reached him. "Oh, yes. What about it?"

"The puppets that was there, he has something similar."

* * *

Evening came too quickly the next day. Malik was all but prepared for Crow's visit and it showed with extreme obviousness. Yugi, Yuniko and Yohim had all together made their best efforts to comfort and calm him, with only half as good results as they had hoped. Seto and Ryou had been told of the news and had stayed as close as they could the whole day. It was the best they could do and Malik was more than grateful for their care. But this was Crow! An almost thousand years old vampire with company was coming to his place and Malik was alone. His family was all smiles and eagerness, and that made it even harder to be calm. They had no clue who they were dealing with. '"Ignorance is a bliss" is a very good quotation,' he realized.

Right as the bell chimed to signal the food was ready the front door opened and Mr. Ishtar's voice was heard welcoming their guest into their humble home. Malik felt how the air got colder, but his family seemed not to notice as his mother asked Isis to welcome their guest into the living room turned dining room.

Isis, dressed in a simple white gown with no waistline that exposed both shoulders, walked with trained elegance towards the front door. Her black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, but she had left two small braids to fall from behind her ears to her chest. Malik saw her bow slightly for the monster he knew stood in the doorway.

Malik had dressed in the same white material as his sister; soft pants and a shirt without buttons that was tied at his waist with a dark purple sash. Beneath the shirt he had a dark blue tank top that brought out the colour of his eyes. And around his neck hung Yugi's blood in a frozen, crimson drop.

Mrs. Ishtar was a sight in herself. Her sand coloured gown just barely hung off her slim shoulders and had embroideries of flowers and birds around the neck while the rest hugged her shapes before it fell to the floor in its simplicity. Around her delicate wrists were many bracelets that chimed when she moved. She wore her hair as the married woman she was with a golden hair clip. Had this been before Malik's experience of being a woman he would never have noticed all the small details that highlighted his mother's beauty and status.

When Crow finally stepped into the room Malik noticed two things and stared with wide eyes, but managed to keep his mouth shut. The vampire was as terrifying as ever, and that scarlet suit he wore was just awful.

"Welcome, Mr. Crow."

Mrs. Ishtar's voice broke through the shock and Malik bowed to hide his face. Men didn't wear their hair up, so Malik's long platinum blond hair did a great job covering his expression.

"Thank you, Mrs. Ishtar." Crow gave her a quick overlook and grinned. "And of course such a beautiful woman had to be married." Malik's mother flushed slightly but managed to cover it up with a smile.

When Crow's eyes landed on Malik the young boy couldn't look away. The right side of the vampire's face was covered with his silvery hair, and the intense green colour of his only eye burnt. There was no doubt; this was definitely the same monster from four hundred years ago, from nine hundred years ago.

"Let me introduce you to my son, Malik. He is shy, so please don't worry if he doesn't answer when you talk to him."

Crow ginned again, his only eye never leaving Malik's. "Of course."

Dinner went rather smoothly. Crow ate and prised the food like he was supposed to do and proved to have good manners a he charmed both Isis and her mother. How he managed was a mystery to Malik. He was still terrified of the man. They discussed the new position of Malik's father and Crow made a good impression of actually having had his eyes on the man for quite some time.

When Isis and Mrs. Ishtar after two hours took care of the dishes Crow suddenly turned to Malik. "That's an interesting gem you have there, son."

"He got that from Atemu, a friend of his," Isis said as she came back from the kitchen to get the last dishes. Malik hadn't been allowed to talk all evening, and for once he had been grateful for that, until now.

Malik's blood froze and his eyes widened. Why hadn't he thought of that? Atemu was the name of Yuniko's brother and now it was Yugi's last name, and Yami's too and Yami was Atemu reborn. Now it would be easy for Crow to track them both down.

"Atemu?" Crow's voice was soft, but his tone sent cold shivers down the youngest Egyptian's spine. "I had a friend by that name once. A very long time ago."

"He was never your friend," Malik hissed before he could stop himself.

"Excuse me?"

Mr. Ishtar quickly recovered from his son's tone and started laughing. "Oh my boy. Such imagination you have. Mr. Crow. Malik's friend is a teenager, a classmate. Isn't that right?"

"Of course it is," Malik answered with a straight face. "Now. It was different last week. Or should I say…" he glanced at Crow with cold eyes from under his fringe, "four hundred years ago."

Mrs. Ishtar shot in and tried to save the situation. After all, she could only see this from her greedy human point of view. "Mr. Crow, Malik returned from the hospital last Wednesday. He is still suffering from the dreams he had."

"Dreams are interesting," Crow said calmly, not at all caring about the worried looks from the boy's parents. "They can be twisted, but they are true to what we really think, because it is the own brain that makes it up." His green eye refocused on Malik. "Did Atemu appear in your dream?"

Malik noticed Crow asked for the prince, the Battle Princess's brother. "Yes."

"Who was he?"

His parents worriedly watched, unable to come up with something to say since Isis was still preparing the dessert and Crow seemed honesty interested in what Malik had to say. They only saw a powerful, rich man talk to their child, and all they could think was all the things Malik could say to ruin everything. To them Malik was the family's black sheep, someone who brought disaster wherever he went and only got into trouble.

Malik stared at Crow with a frown in place, not even trying to hide his distrust.

"_You should lead him to me. That spares me the trouble of hunting him down."_

Malin straightened up in the chair.

"Prince Atemu of Scotland. The man who saved me when my mother and sister was about to beat me to death."

Isis with parents paled visibly. Only Crow looked delighted, even if he tried to put on a slightly startled face. "Is that so? How terrible. What happened then?"

"I do not know much. That was the last time I ever saw them. When I regained consciousness the princess was there and she took care of me. His highness never mentioned anything, but the late king had a hot temper. I suppose they were executed."

Malik's parents and sister no longer existed in the room for the two enemies. Had they spoken they would not be heeded.

"Sad to hear that." That's what Crow's mouth said, his eyes told a different story altogether.

"Why? They only used me. I was not their child, I was their slave, I was the one they blamed and punished when anything went wrong." Malin's eyes were cold. "But you already know that, do you not?"

Crow grinned. "Interesting. Then I have only one more question for you."

"No need. She is waiting for you."

Crow stood. "Good. Then I will pay her a visit. I am positive you will see her tomorrow, so please send her majesty my regards." The vampire turned to Malik's frozen parents.

"I would if you had any to give," Malin said coldly. "But I will tell her all about this evening. I am sure she will find it as informative as you."

Crow smirked and leaned closer to hiss into her ear. "Ever the sharp-tongued bitch, are you not, Miss Malin?" Then he turned to Malik's parents. "Then I shall thank you for this wonderful evening. You have been of great help."

Crow turned and left, calmly closing the door after him. Malin sighed in relief, but Mr. Ishtar only saw his chance of promotion fly out the window.

"Malik!" Mrs. Ishtar hissed angrily. "What do you think you're doing? How dare you talk like that to Mr. Crow?"

Malin turned to them, surprised to find unfamiliar faces in the room. "Who are you?" Then Malik returned from where he had hidden in Malin's stronger mind. Just in time to feel the back of his mother's hand connect with his face.

"Idiot! How _dare_ you?! You just ruined your father's chance of promotion. How dare you-"

"YOU'RE NOT MY FAMILY!"

At Malik's scream everything stilled. Mrs. Ishtar's stopped with raised hand and her face paled, her husband stopped breathing and Isis felt like she had been kicked in the stomach. Malik stood still, panting.

"I'm not your son," he rephrased. "I don't know what the hell I am to you. You don't love me, that's for sure. I disappeared somewhere along the line and now all you can think of is to satisfy your greed. Did you even notice how cold it got in here when that man arrived? I know the truth and am marked as the one who _lies_."

Mrs. Ishtar slapped Malik again in vain attempt to silence him.

"Sure, keep going." Malik glared at his mother with tears escaping his eyes. "Hitting me is the only way to control me, isn't that what you think? At least it seems to be the only way you know of. You've forgotten all about kindness. You know, you could have sold me long ago, when you felt like I was becoming a burden to you. At least then I might have known what it is like to be loved."

Malik turned on his heels to return to his room, leaving his family in cold silence. But in the door to his room he stopped.

A chocked gunshot sounded and the Ishtar son flew backwards onto the floor. His parents couldn't move, but Isis was at his side in no time.

"Malik!"

Isis's brother sat up, holding his chest where he had thought he felt the bullet, but there was no blood and it didn't hurt. Around his neck Yugi's blood was warm. _"The puppets that was there, he has something similar."_

Malik stared at the being standing in his window. This was the fifth floor, which could only mean one thing; Crow's puppets.

Isis stared and screamed. The puppet, a man with very pale face and black suit and glasses aimed the gun at her. But Malik would have none of that. He threw himself over his sister's back.

The bullet hit, but under the Battle Princesses' protection nothing would be able to harm the teen. Malin, due to her way longer experience of fighting, reached for her knives, only to realize Malik had never worn any.

"I need a knife!" Malin yelled as she pushed Malik's sister out of harms way.

Strong hands suddenly grabbed them both and pulled them into another room where the door was closed and locked. When Malik checked he found himself in his parents' bedroom with both of them busy pulling the double bed in front of the door.

"Now he won't get in," Mr. Ishtar said. His face was unhealthy pale and he looked like he was going to be sick at any given moment. His wife wasn't in a much better condition. There where noises on the other side of the door, and it was no human voices.

"What is that thing?" Isis asked.

"One of Crow's puppets, but there's probably more than one," Malik answered. He was petrified. Locked in here they were helpless. His own parents had just forced them into a dead end with no way out. Here there was nothing he could use to protect them with.

"Crow's what?" Isis breathed. With all his family's wide-eyed and disbelieving attention Malik avoided their stares and grabbed Yugi's blood with both hands. The noises beyond the door silenced.

"Think for yourselves for once," he almost hissed. "Crow never intended to promote anyone. He only wanted to know where the princess is. We talked to Rashid two days ago and told him about the princess and Crow's obsession of finding her. The fastest way was through me who is her friend. And to get to me he used you." Malik glared at his father. "And now when he has the information he wanted, we who know it as well must die. That monster has enough money to cover his tracks."

Suddenly, so much in fact everyone jumped away, the window broke.

'They did make it to my room,' Malik managed to think before he realized what that meant. The door broke and the Crows puppets climbed through the hole and over the bed. Their human disguise was melting away, showing what they really were; walking corpses. They were trapped like birds in a cage. If they jumped out the windows they'd be crushed against the pavement.

Mil recognized this situation. The clan leader in the other room and darkness closing in on him and his brother. But Ry wasn't here now. He was alone and the darkness threatened to choke him. He closed his eyes as tears started to burn behind them.

"Ma Yoro…"

Yugi's blood suddenly exploded with light and warmth. It was so sharp anyone would get blind by looking at it. But this was the light of God's chosen one, a saint who had once defeated the Devil's mistake. The light chased away everything that Mil was scared of and he looked up into his adoptive mother's warm brown eyes.

_Hush now_, she said when she took him in her arms. _There is nothing to be scared of now_.

As true as the sun. When the light faded there was nothing there to be afraid of. All that proved there had been something in the apartment were two broken windows and the ripped off door to the room they were in.


	37. Last Battle

Hi, all my lovely readers. Now I may have good news, and I may have bad ones depending on who you are. The good news is that after this one there will only be one more chapter left. The bad news are that I the last chapter isn't finished yet and don't know when it will be updated. But I hope I will have more time to write now when I'm starting school again (It's really strange that I have more time then, but in reality it's just the motivation I have more of).

So I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. I myself find it a bit... uh, no. You'll probably think the same later so I won't tell you beforehand. Just enjoy the chapter and review once you've done so.

**EXTRA NOTE FOR YOU WHO'VE READ THIS CHAPTER ONCE BEFORE.** I don't know how I managed to put the chapter twice after each other. Sorry 'bout that but it should be fixed now.

* * *

**Last Battle**

Thursday. Malik was in school but he was so pale his tan looked more like makeup than his actual skin colour. His cloths were in disorder and he had the bedhead of the year.

"Are you all right?" Ryou asked carefully as they waited for class to start.

"No," Malik whispered. The corridor was crowded and none of them wanted anyone to know exactly what they talked about.

"Last night?"

The Egyptian boy only nodded his answer, his face paling another shade.

"Was it really that bad? You will tell us later, right?"

Malik swallowed, tried to speak, but words just refused to come. At last he just nodded his head again.

After the first shock had passed all power had left Malik from his chest down. It still surprised him his heart hadn't stopped. Everybody had crowded in Isis's room but only Malik had managed to fall asleep, mostly because he was so drained.

Suddenly a warm, safe hand touched his arm and Malik felt his body relax.

"You will be all right, Malik," Yugi said and the taller turned to him. "I will see to that."

With a deep sigh the Egyptian boy managed a small smile. "Thank you."

"Yugi, you know what happened?" Ryou asked, earning a nod from his friend.

"Tell you later."

* * *

During lunch they gathered in the library as usual, all four of them, Seto having been informed by a message on his cell.

"The plan succeeded, and I'm sorry for using your family, Malik."

"We're not hurt. We survived with just the memory and a great shock."

Yugi frowned worriedly. Malik wouldn't look at him. "I need to you to tell me what you said, though. I only know roughly what happened because Yohim came to your rescue."

The dark boy shivered and hugged himself. Seto placed a warm hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently, making the younger relax. Yugi subconsciously registered Kaio's healing hands at work.

"He mentioned the pearl," Malik started softly. "My sister got before me and said I got it from Atemu." Yugi's eyes widened and he felt both Yuniko and Yohim pay closer attention. None of them had thought that Yugi had Yuniko's brother's name as last name.

"You mentioned brother?" Yugi asked slowly, but Malik shook his head in denial.

"I never mentioned this era's Atemu, and then Malin stepped up to confront him." Malik paused and swallowed. Malin pushed gently at his mind, giving him reassurance. After all, they could wholeheartedly confide in the princess. "My parents… They've never trusted me, and they were the ones who forced the situation out of hand. I got so angry I just… Malin said you're waiting for him, and then he left."

Silence rested over the group, all but Yugi caught in his own thoughts.

_He had a fight with his family_, Yohim said.

'I know that. That's why he's so tense and restless.'

_He will tell you what happened, when he has managed to work it through_, the past said as the mother she had once been.

Yugi looked down at the table. 'I hope you're right.' Then he stood up. "And then Crow sent his puppets," he finished Malik's story swiftly. "How bad was the damage?"

"Two broken windows, one broken door and a lot of pride and confidence."

"How did the puppets get in?" Seto asked.

"Through the windows."

Ryou frowned confused. "Wait, hold it. I thought you said you lived on the fifth floor."

"I do."

Yugi pulled his shoulders slightly backwards. "This means that they either climbed up the wall," he looked at them all, "or flew."

Shivers ran down the listeners' spines. If Crow's puppets could fly they were definitely at a disadvantage. Seto was the first to speak up, realistic and down to earth as always.

"So what do we do?"

Yugi's green eyes looked at him, but right behind them the elder could clearly see the blue of Scotland's queen and the brown of Kaio's cousin.

"We can do little but plan our strategy and wait for the night. But we can not meet him here in the open where people can get hurt. That's why we're going for a trip after school." He smirked a little. "We'll take the train west."

"To the wasteland?" Ryou asked surprised. He had almost forgotten about those summers spent away from his family. Yugi's grandparents had had a house out there and Yugi and Ryou had spent a few summers at that place. When the old couple died their son had been given the house and Kanaka was now the owner since her husband's death. Neither the brothers nor Kanaka had been there in five years.

"How will you persuade your brother to let you go?" Seto asked. He was old enough to take care of himself and his mother trusted him enough to let him do what he wanted.

"How can I persuade my parents?" Malik asked.

Yugi smiled innocently and opened his eyes wide. "Is this a face you can say 'no' to?"

* * *

At half past five pm Malik so wanted to know how on earth Yugi had managed to not only persuade his parents to let him go, but also make them pay the train ticket and pack him cloths and a lunchbox. He was convinced there were visible question marks spinning around his head.

Bakura hadn't come home yet when Ryou got in so he simply placed a note to his brother when he left. He was listening intently, convinced his Bakura's scream would be heard over the train's noise. Kanaka hadn't gotten a chance to protest from the moment Yugi entered the house, told her of his plans, packed a bag and left. Yami hadn't been home. But Ryou thought he had heard Kanaka's refusals four seconds after Yugi had closed the door behind him.

"You're a fox, Yugi," Seto accused.

"You mean I have pointy ears and a long nose?" Yugi asked innocently, knowing exactly what his friend meant.

"You trick Malik's parents, you surprise your mom and don't even notify your brother. That's what I call foxy."

"Yes…" Yugi's face turned serious as he stared out the window at the passing landscape. "The fact brother wasn't home… his class ended 80 minutes before mine."

The others glanced at each other and Ryou frowned at the fact his brother hadn't been home either.

"We still have three hours until sun sets. You can call home at the station."

Yugi just nodded. He had a feeling… like someone was pulling a hair at the back of his head. Something was wrong and he feared it had something to do with Yami.

After twenty minutes they arrived to the station and Yugi went straight to the first phone box he found. Ryou stood right outside the open door listening, Malik paced behind it and Seto pretended to not be worried by watching the TV-shows that was right in front the phone box.

_"Atemu,"_ Kanaka answered the phone. Yugi noted the forced calmness in her tone.

"Mom, it's me. Can I talk to brother?" The other line fell silent. "Mom… mom, are you still there?"

_"…Didn't he come with you?"_

Yugi felt his stomach sink. "No, he didn't. I told you I was going with my friends and to tell brother where I went."

Another silence, and when Kanaka spoke again her voice was soft to not give her dread away. _"He hasn't come home yet. I thought… I hoped you had taken him along."_

"Hey, Yugi. I think you should see this," Seto suddenly called, turning the green-eyed boy's attention to the television in front of him. His eyes widened and he had to swallow before his voice could break through the lump that blocked his throat.

"Mom, turn on the TV, channel 2. What are they saying?" He listened to his mother's movements and then heard the click of the TV and how she moved back from the screen. She brought up the volume so he could hear.

_"…stat they saw Mr. Crow off at three this afternoon at his hotel but when the car arrived to Kame corp. there was no one inside. The police are working in frenzy to find out how it could possibly happen."_

The image changed to a sweaty, wild-eyed policeman. _"What do you think happened?"_ the reporter asked.

_"We have no idea. Right now we are checking cameras along the road they took to see if they stopped anywhere and we have a party searching the car to see if it's possibly controlled."_

Yugi swallowed again. "Thanks, mom. I'll call you back later. Hopefully brother has followed me here."

"What did they say?" Ryou asked before Yugi had even hung up.

The young leader of the group took a deep breath and walked out of the phone box and started walking to an unseen destination. "Brother never got home, Crow is reported missing and we don't know if Bakura made it home."

Ryou's face paled alarmingly. "You think that monster…?" He didn't dare to finish the thought.

"I'm open for every possibility right now. Yohim never knew the full extent of Dracul's power. Yuniko was kept busy protecting her people, and I don't give much for these days' vampire stories."

"So what do we do now?" Seto asked, even he forced to take longer steps to catch up with the little one's fast pace.

"Prepare. Malik need knives and Ryou need a bow. The cross is all I need." He suddenly stopped and locked his gaze on the eldest in the group of boys. Seto slowly shook his head when he understood. "You will stay in the background."

"You can't do that," Seto stated angrily.

"Kaio had healing hands."

"I know."

"And Kyoko was attacked by a pledge for the same reason." Yugi's green eyes deepened and Seto saw blue around the pupil and brown around the edges. "You will stay in the background, Kaiba, because if you refuse this battle will bring even more disaster than it already has."

The brunette slowly gave in. Yugi may be small, but he had more authority than any military general. "Fine," he grumbled.

Yugi's eye's softened. "Thank you, Seto."

"But wherever are we going to get weapons?" Malik asked carefully, receiving a smug grin from Yugi.

"Why do you think I choose this of all places? My shadowed friend has all we need."

* * *

"A real bow? Is the boy good enough?"

"He was the best in Scotland some time ago, I doubt his skills have dropped much since."

Dark eyes, so much they seemed black, scanned the group again. "And knives? I never heard of Muslim altercation, if they weren't terrorists."

"Malik could defeat people two times his age and experience."

"Keyword; Could." Those strange eyes, deep enough to drown in if you got too close, met Seto's blue ones. "Nothing for the tall one?"

"His hands are enough for him."

Yugi's "Shadowed friend" leaned forward. "I'd love to test your words, Clever. But I see in your eyes you're short on time." The dark eyes scanned the group again. "I will help you this time, but I expect a price in exchange."

"Tonight I promise you'll have your price," Yugi promised firmly.

The man nodded and stood. He was an impressive sight, almost 7 feet tall topped with a wild mane of pitch black hair, a well-shaped body and a lot of dark scars crossing the bare arms said a lot of what kind of life he had had. He was on the edge to lean, but broad and muscular and moved with a lithe grace a dancer would kill for. Had his eyes been brighter maybe he wouldn't have that air of mysterious danger around him. Not even the sun hitting him through a window could take away the dark he seemed to carry around. Malik had met his share of black men, but this one had to be the blackest of them all. Even the inside of his hands had a darker shade than the blackest people he had met.

"I have the stuff in the back, come along."

Yugi followed without a doubt and the others glanced at each other before they too moved around the desk.

"Who is this?" Malik whispered to Yugi.

"Sombra, born in Zimbabwe and well known in this area for creating weapons the same way his people did before Spain colonised the area. He only sells them to people who can handle them and to the archery schools."

Sombra entered a room and the group stayed in the doorway, Malik, Ryou and Kaiba gaping at what they saw. It was like entering an African head-hunter' hut. Everything was in a tidy order with bows in one place with the arrows beside and the arrows sorted by the colour of the feathers. Grotesque masks covered the warm brown, painted walls and what had to be fake dried heads hung in a corner in the ceiling. Spears stood neatly in a rack ordered from left to right shortest to longest.

Sombra never even looked around as he went up to a table where a few boxes were stacked behind a show collection of knives of all sizes, these too in harmonic order. He picked up the box on top and opened it to Yugi.

"Perfect," the young boy said and turned. Sombra wasted no time in closing the box and giving it to Malik. The Egyptian boy took it with surprise on his face. The man had such long legs he moved quicker than expected of such a large body.

Then the dark man picked out a bow and two dozen blue feathered arrows. When Ryou got them in his hands he immediately noticed the length of both the bow and the arrows. Looking closer at the feathers he realized they were made to fly long and with the bow's strength… where was..?

Ryou looked up with the words in his mouth just as Sombra held out the string.

"Thank you," the albino said with a smile.

Sombra seemed satisfied at Ryou's obvious knowing what he had at hands. Then his dark eyes studied Kaiba who had been looking at a rack of staffs. He moved his gaze to Yugi. Their eyes met.

Kaiba was more than a little surprised when Sombra suddenly picked out a staff long enough for him. He looked to Yugi.

"You stay in the background," he said firmly. "But that doesn't mean they won't see you."

When they were about to leave, Malik, Ryou and Seto quite surprised Yugi hadn't picked anything out for himself and that Sombra hadn't even bothered to ask, the green eyed reincarnation of Yuniko turned and bowed for the black man staying in the shadows.

"I expect payment tonight," Sombra said lowly, almost with a growl in his chest.

"You will receive it, Sombra. I promise you that."

There was a sound of a long breath and then the dark man was gone. Yugi turned to his friends. "The sun has almost disappeared." He pointed to a small hill off to the side behind Sombra's shop. "There is a field that way where we will meet Crow."

"How can you be so sure he'll come here?" Seto couldn't resist asking.

"I've been calling him since we arrived," was all Yugi answered. The other three exchanged glances before following Yugi's long, quick strides.

* * *

The field was not the same as the one Yuniko had fought on four hundred years ago, and it didn't mean the same for this place's people, but soon the scene would be the same from four and nine hundred years ago.

Malik, Ryou and Seto closed up behind Yugi as he all of sudden came to a stop. The green eyed boy's movements suddenly reminded more of Yuniko's, like she had subconsciously taken over the younger boy's body.

The sea was not far west of them and the red glowing sun sunk into the clouds covering the horizon, promising a rainy day tomorrow. Malik admired the sunset along with Ryou while Seto watched with twisting stomach how the field's shadows became red in the last rays of the sun.

'Is Yugi really meant to survive?'

Where the black figure came from or how long it had been standing there before they noticed him only Yugi knew, and he stayed quiet.

"Long time no see, Battle Princess," they heard Crow's voice say.

The light died and suddenly the field behind the dark figure was filled with dark, red eyed, moving creatures.

"Definitely," Yuniko said blandly. "Though I can not say I missed you."

A green eye glowed under the black hood and a wolfish grin could be sensed. "Too bad, for I have missed you painfully much for all these years."

A strong wind suddenly crossed the field between them, removing Crow's cover and giving them all a terrible view over his grinning face and missing eye. But that wasn't what caught the boys' attention.

Under the coat he had been hiding Yami and Bakura.

"Brother," Ryou whispered.

"They are fine," Yugi whispered back. "They are still living humans." As soon as he said that, dark creatures, Crow's puppets, passed their master on their way to the boys.

Yugi's war cry mixed with the furious neighing of a horse. When Malik turned his eyes to where it came from he was more surprised that he wasn't surprised at all to see Shadow storming through the field. Ryou fired an arrow that cut through the creatures between Shadow and Yugi, who was already halfway through the field towards his enemy. This time the Battle Princess wouldn't stand waiting for the enemy to come to them.

When Shadow reached him Yugi wasted no time in gracefully throwing himself up on the stallion's back. There was a glow about them both and Malik absently realized Yugi's cloths had changed from his school uniform to white pants and a sleeveless dress like shirt that made it easier for him to move. His long hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and in his hand he held the cross like a sword.

Crow was enjoying himself. He grinned as he watched the Battle Princess, or Prince, fight with his face set. It was a beautiful sight even with those annoying ants protecting her back. Let them. He had all he ever needed to see the face of God's loved one colour with pain. He leisurely picked up the hypnotized Yami by the hair and tilted his head to reveal a long, slender white neck. Crow lowered his head, mouth open and grinning.

_YUGI!_ Yuniko suddenly yelled and made him turn towards Crow who was about to feed on Yami. His heart skipped a beat just as the save came towards him from behind. He caught Malik's misaimed knife and sent it towards Crow with a force he didn't know if it was his or the princess's.

Crow was caught completely off guard when a sharp light suddenly cut off his arm and took Yami with it. He turned around just as the light materialized, revealing Yuniko's angry face and perfect body. In her hand she had the knife Malik had thrown, and God blessed it, remaking the sword that had been broken four hundred years ago. Yami was securely pressed to her chest.

"Battle Princess," Crow hissed. Even if he had witnessed the battle four hundred years ago, he hadn't been prepared for this.

Only a few yards to the side of the vampire Yohim landed with the sacred cross in hand. Her hair that had been cut was back, firmly braided in her neck. But in the frontline Yugi and Shadow had to pull back. In his desperation to save his brother Yugi had forgotten to protect himself. Shadow had gotten bitten in the hind legs and gained cuts to his side and chest. But Yuniko and Yohim was too close to Crow for him to protect himself with only one arm and therefore the creatures returned to their master.

"Seto," Yugi panted as he returned to his friends. The tall brunette reached for Yugi's side, but the younger hit his hands away. "Shadow first. I can manage."

Seto wasn't convinced but did as he was told. Yugi hadn't even noticed just how bad a scratch he had gotten in his side. He was too busy fighting and keeping an eye out for the Past and Present to care much for himself.

Crow retreated to the sky where the princesses couldn't reach him, and with Bakura under his arm and Yuniko having Yami to protect made it hard to fight the others as well.

"My blood is poison for them," Yugi breathed and touched his wound to wet his hand with the blood that pulsed out of the wound. "Be prepared," he then warned his friends. "I don't trust Crow for a second. I must help the others, and by then he will come for you."

Seto reached up in attempt to heal Yugi's wound at least a little, but Shadow neighed as he rose on his hind legs and Seto was thrown back as the stallion dashed back to the battle, eager to continue fighting now that he was healed.

The ground slowly cleared as the dark creatures grew wings and followed their master into the air. A few of them were vampires, low-life beings with only Crow to keep them alive. Yugi arrived to the princesses and got off Shadow's broad back so that he could take a look at his brother.

"Unconscious," he stated after a short look and check of the pulse.

"I wish Sky and Guardian was here," Yuniko mumbled. "I do not like being bound to the ground."

"Had they been here they would have been the first to die," Yohim stated stoically, and Yugi agreed with her.

"Crow was there from the beginning, Yuniko. He knows you too well." And Scotland's Battle Princess couldn't deny that. Then she suddenly realized something.

"We left Malin and the others unwatched!"

True indeed. When the Battle Princesses gathered where Crow had been standing before, the vampires suddenly aimed their attacks at the three standing in the sidelines. All hearts jumped into their throats when Crow became visible right above Seto's, out of sight for them.

Yuniko reacted fast, leaving Yami with Yugi she flew up on Shadow's back as the stallion turned on his hoofs to dash back to where the green-eyed vampire was.

Yugi couldn't leave Yami unguarded but Yohim followed the present's tracks, slashing through some earthbound ghouls that stood in her way. Crow wouldn't lay a finger on them. Not as long as she was around. She would kill him, chop his head off and bury a pole in the body's unmoving heart and throw the head in the ocean. Yohim forced herself to run faster.

Yuniko fought to get past the dark creatures that attacked her from the air to her friends. She could almost hear it; Crow's malice snickering. It made her angry, almost desperate. Ryouko was running out of arrows and Malin had only one knife left. Seto fought well with the staff, gaining a satisfying flash of light every time he hit a target with it.

'Vampires can not _heal_.' It was a lone thought that reached the surface as the Battle Princess of the present watched what happened. 'Kaio has healing hands.' Crow's green eye shone through the darkness and his smirk was wider than ever.

But suddenly there was another presence. Another vampire arrived.

Crow cried loudly when his second arm suddenly was stolen from him, and his white-haired prey with it.

"Thank you, father Scot," Yuniko said as she still fought against the flying creatures.

"I live to serve you, your majesty," Scot said calmly as he soared down to the glowing blue barrier Yugi had put up around his brother. They met up outside of it.

Yugi's forest green eyes were deep and calm, despite the blood tainting his cloths, he radiated an air of safety. He smiled quietly.

"I'm sorry, father, but as a vampire you should not enter my barrier. Please stay out."

Scot smiled back. "I told you before that I will help you, did I not?"

"You probably did," Yugi laughed. "Only that you phrased it a little different."

They nodded at each other and the old vampire gave the boy in his arms to the Future.

"This is not over yet, Battle Princess!"

In the air Crow suddenly imitated Sanguis's move and started absorbing his puppets into his being. Disgusted they all watched as his arms grew back out.

Ryouko aimed her last arrow at him, but Yohim suddenly raised a hand to stop her. "Wait. Not yet."

"But…"

"No, not yet," Yuniko yelled. She had stopped Shadow and now only watched as Crow healed himself and boosted his power. Yugi stood still in front of his barrier, his own heartbeat being its source of power.

The three ages were linked together, from the beginning the same soul. Split in three they were never alone. Malin and Ryouko were prepared with the last of their weapons and Kaio stood back. Father Scot weren't visible, but the Battle Princesses could feel him there.

God breathed them all in the face.

"I will destroy you all!" Crow attacked and aimed for Yohim.

Yuniko smirked as she raised her sword to attack. "You will never manage, Crow!" The whip of light she sent against him robbed him once again of his left arm. He hissed madly in his blind fury.

"Ba-ttle Prin-cess!"

Yugi raised his hands and concentrated his soul. "We are no longer alone against an army of bloodthirsty beasts." His blast hit Crow in the side of his head.

"You can not defeat me," the vampire spat and turned again. Ryouko's arrow and Malin's knife ripped his wings from his dark body, forcing him to use more energy to grow them back out before he fell to the ground. By now he was blind with fury. "I will kill you all!" He once again aimed for Yohim, who met him with a stubborn smile.

"I never thought highly of you," she said as the holy cross buried itself in his body. In that instant Scot appeared behind him. His clawed hand dug into Crow's back and ripped something out of it.

"You do not need these where you are going."

Yohim turned away from the vampires. "Kaio." The brunette turned her wide blue eyes to her cousin. Yohim smiled. "Heal him."

"Heal?" Kaio sputtered. "Why do you want me to…" Yohim just smiled slyly. She knew a lot and would never lie. Kaio trusted her with more than her life. She still had Yugi's blood on her hands. "Yes."

The girl couldn't possibly go into the air where Scot was trying to escape the mad vampire, but she had seen the result of her fighting. And so had Seto. He adjusted the staff he held and aimed swiftly and carefully before he threw the staff like a spear.

Scot saw the coming projectile and fell to let it hit his enemy.

The explosion that followed was silent and white, erasing all colours, spreading until there was no telling where it ended and begun. Yohim felt how a pain eased from her heart, as if a thorn had been ripped out of it and the wound healed. Yuniko breathed out in relief and got off Shadow's back. The three Battle Princesses turned to the black man that stood in his place.

"The payment is fair," Sombra said with a smile in his eyes and voice. "I could finally revenge my daughter."

Yuniko smiled. "Rest in peace now, Shadow."

The man smiled and nodded before he disappeared in the light.

But suddenly the light turned black. The air that had been warm almost froze into a blizzard. Yugi almost swallowed his tongue when he remembered he had left his barrier and now didn't know what happened to his and Ryou's brothers.

Everyone heard a sudden grunt and a hand reached up to grab a very small creature in the air. The Battle Princess recognized the hand. It was the same one that had grabbed Sanguis four hundred years ago.

The Devil pulled his prey back with him, and with them both gone, everything returned to normal. When the morning came, no one would be able to guess what had occurred during the night.

Or remember it.


	38. the Truth behind Legends

Now here is the last chapter at last. It's not the best I've written to this story, and once i was down I broke down into the arms of a friend and after that cried about the whole night. I'm feeling awfully abandoned and lonely and I'm gonna miss all the charachters of this story. I miss them terribly already and I must fight tears every time I think of this story now.

Well, I hope you guys like it and that you won't break down and cry out of disappointment in me and the end. It's been a long journey that I now will take farewell of... (tearsy eyed).

Anyway. This is the end and the very last chapter. Please enjoy.

/Love Mjus

* * *

**The Truth behind the Legends**

"Yugi, I hope you're awake, for if you're not you'll be late for school."

Yugi stirred. He was death tired, but his mom had a point; if he didn't get up about now he would be late.

He dressed and got down for breakfast still half asleep.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Yami greeted.

"Mornin' stupid brother," Yugi muttered.

Yami looked up from the newspaper. "What was that for?" he asked with a surprised laugh.

"Because you're stupid, stupid." Yugi rested his head on his hand as he fed himself with breakfast. As he ate he kept mumbling incoherently, obviously rather annoyed.

"Yugi, are you sure you're alright?" Kanaka asked when she entered the kitchen. "I told you to get in bed early last night."

"I know," Yugi muttered. "Like I could forget."

Kanaka sighed and decided not to push it. "Well then. I left your lunches by the door. Make sure to grab them when you leave."

Yugi nodded, finished his breakfast and went to do his ordinary morning chores. He brushed his teeth, combed his hair, put on his uniform, packed his bag and almost forgot his lunch by the door. Well, it was the first time Kanaka had put them there so of course he almost forgot, it was only luck he didn't. Yami had passed the first block before he remembered.

* * *

It was a dark and rainy Friday and first class was culture. The students were actually a little exited about today's lesson, for it was time to present the follow up from the research; dress up like the artist or (if a portrait) the person on the painting and tell its story. Since Yugi was a freshman with the last name Atemu, his group was out first.

Seto and Ryou had prepared texts and images for the Overhead and was preparing at the black board, mumbling quietly to each other. They had cleared a pathway from the door to the front where a chair with high back, golden armrests and red velvet seating stood waiting for a special person.

When the teacher walked in she was pleased to see her students prepared and ready to start. Except for one thing. "Where're Atemu and Ishtar?"

Ryou smiled as Seto wrote on the black board. "We shall announce their appearance as soon as everybody is ready."

"Battle Princess" now neatly stood on the black board. He stared out the crowd with bright, almost proud eyes. "Everybody rise to greet the queen of Scotland."

Everybody snickered to each other as they stood; believing it was all a game, until the door opened and the queen herself entered the classroom with her nurse by her side.

Yuniko was elegantly dressed in a fitting, dark blue green velvet gown that left her shoulders bare. The sleeves were pointed, decorated with billowing, golden embroidery and ended by her elbows, drawing attention to her golden skin. Malin had done a wonderful work with the queen's long hair. The crown on her head had challenged her skills, but now Yuniko's hair was braided many times in her neck to fall over her left shoulder in soft waves. Rumours hadn't gone far from the truth when they four hundred years ago named Scotland's princess the kingdom's highest beauty. The colour of her dress also made her blue eyes seem even brighter.

Everybody bowed as she passed them. Yuniko stepped up to the throne and turned, her eyes shining with the same authority and strength from her time as Scotland's monarch. Malin walked silent and pleasant in her moves slightly behind her queen, dressed as a normal servant with knee long, white dress and only its blue waistband to prove she was the queen's personal servant. When the ruler turned Malin curtsied deeply and Scotland's patriot saint nodded nobly in acknowledgement. Yuniko seated on the throne as the nurse took her place behind her, she motioned for everyone else to follow her example and sit down.

Seto and Ryou stepped in front of Scotland's monarch and bowed elegantly. "Welcome, your majesty, Treasure of Scotland."

Yuniko nodded at them both, radiating calmness and good will. She opened her mouth and spoke. "I am honoured to be here, my young ones." Her smile was honest and she looked so very proud.

Ryou stood closest to the Overhead so he took the few steps there to turn it on. Ken's painting showed in black and white behind the queen.

"Your majesty," Seto bowed again. "The painting of you in your moment of death was painted by Sir Ken Scotte. I believe you can tell us about him."

Yuniko's smile faded. She looked to the side where she could see the copy of the painting on the Overhead. "Sir Ken. It feels like a long time ago, that day in the throne room." She turned her gaze back to the crowd listening, her eyes sad but her voice steady. "Sir Ken worked in the council for my father, late king Loutus of Scotland. He was very loyal," her eyes grew darker as she frowned at the memory. "Towards my father, that is. But the thought of a female ruler… displeased him."

"Why?" somebody in the class asked and Yuniko turned her eyes towards her while Malin gave her a sharp glare.

"It is no crime to wonder loudly, Malin," Yuniko said as if she had seen her nurse's glare, though Malin knew she had probably seen it in the girl's face. The queen gave the senior who had asked the question a politely interested glance. "You ask me why? Now I wonder why you are asking."

The girl shrugged her shoulders uncertainly and shook her head. "W-we-well, I don't know when you lived but…" she shrugged her shoulders again, not knowing how to voice her question.

"I understand," Yuniko said softly. "You are a strong and independent girl. But I was born 1612, and back then it was the men who ruled this world." Flames of harm glowed in the girl's eyes and she straightened her back about to say something spiteful, but the queen raised her hand with a hard look in her eyes. "I know how you feel, young miss. I have felt so too many times. But Sir Ken's dislike towards me was not only the fact I was a woman."

Malin lifted her head and stared with stone cold eyes at the crowd. "Sir Ken believed Milady to be weak because she never once in her life ordered execution as penalty." Eyes widened and glances were exchanged. Malin spoke up again, feeling the need to voice facts. "Milady is merciful and kind, but not weak. The title of 'Battle Princess' was given her for reasons that do not include weakness."

Yuniko turned her keen eyes towards Honda who sat to her right on the second row. "You have a question for me, do you not?"

Honda stood before he spoke. "Milady, why would a man who disliked your majesty choose to paint you?"

Scotland's patriot saint smiled sadly. "Because I loved him, I believe." She looked over to where Bakura sat staring, almost glaring, intently at her. "Once he tried to steal my protection and I gave him _one_ more chance. He failed that chance."

"The marriage?" Bakura and Yami asked in union, making Yuniko smile and them glare at each other.

"You have done your homework, I see," she said almost slyly, hinting she knew more about it than the rest of the crowd, or themselves. "Yes. Sir Ken sent to me a suitor I could not refuse."

A brunette in the back stood, curiosity mixed with awe in her eyes. "Why not?"

"Because the Irish Lord Thomas had strong military forces," Malin answered to draw attention away from Yuniko's fleeting show of pain. "Since Milady was fighting a war and late Lord Thomas offered to join forces with her majesty."

Yuniko nodded again, mostly to herself. "Until we stood in front of the altar I could not refuse him, the consequences of denial would send upon me and the world a catastrophe I rather not try to imagine. But there in the church, I, Yuniko I of Scotland, refused Lord Thomas IV Gabriel of the Lion clan in order to keep my kingdom safe for some time longer."

"Forgive my intrusion, your majesty," Seto interrupted as politely as he could. "We are swaying from the subject."

"Actually not, little Kyoko." Yuniko looked up into the surprised blue eyes of the male, her own very aware even with the distant look. She seemed to have surprised herself with an automatic replay. "No. You are Seto Kaiba now. Forgive me."

Seto nodded, still not really recovered from the surprise. "You are always forgiven, Milady."

Yuniko smiled warmly at him. "I wish that was true." Then she blinked to let him see the green and brown hiding behind the blue before turning back to Honda. "My fiancé died that night along with his son," she pursed her mouth fleetingly, "whom I can tell was older than me, and the soldiers he had brought to witness his overtake of my kingdom, so obviously not knowing the consequences of such an action. Sir Ken led him to it. It was somewhere between late Lord Thomas's arrival and the wedding I figured out Sir Ken was related to Lord Thomas, uncle and nephew actually." A thought seemed to hit her from the looks of the listeners. "I suppose I should tell you I was far from isolated in the white castle and I had friends outside my kingdom's boundaries as well. A few messages to my Irish friends served me enough information and proof to uncover his plans and send Sir Ken to exile." She frowned a bit, as if daring anybody to disagree with her. "I had given him one more chance to serve me, but Sir Ken was blinded by… greed I suppose, and fear. Late Lord Thomas was his uncle, and if he had taken over the Scottish throne Sir Ken would have been a part of the royal family, and as such better protected."

"At least that is what he imagined," Malin said spitefully, her face telling everybody exactly what she thought of the man.

"Fear can do a lot to you," Yuniko nodded, her eyes dark as she looked Yami in the eyes. "And Sir Ken choose to listen to his fears and let it lead him."

There was a silence where Malin straightened her back again and looked over the heads of the crowd. She had done so every time she had something to say. This time though she was silent at first. "The night of the wedding her majesty fell ill and would not wake up for six days. When she did wake up Sir Ken was judged and sent to exile."

Yuniko nodded, a small smile touching her lips as she remembered that moment. It was so clear in her mind it could have happened this same morning. "My weakness, and strength, has always been my people," she said softly, like a mother talking about her child. "Sir Ken was part of my people and as such I loved him. Despite his dislike towards me I wanted him to be safe. So, on impulse…" she looked out over the heads, seeing the eyes directed at her, curious and aware, "I told him to take care."

"To bad he did not," Malin mumbled with an absent-minded glance out the windows. Yuniko had to smile at her tone. Malin would never learn to keep her comments in a leach.

Otogi slowly stood slightly to the queen's left side. "My apologies, Milady. But you have left out some details…" He hesitated before he continued. "Actually, your majesty has left out many details."

"I am aware of that, young sir. But those details have to do with the name given to me only months before my death." She suddenly gave him a sharp gaze, marking his place. "I will uncover everything, but I will do it in my own pace."

Otogi nodded, bowed clumsily and sat back down as fast as he could. Yuniko nodded satisfied before she turned Malin's way. "Where was I?"

The nurse thought for a second. "You told Sir Ken to take care right before he left the throne room."

"Yes." Yuniko nodded and found Otogi's green eyes. She clearly remembered them in governor Duke's face. "I could not forgive him or take back my punishment, but I could tell him I loved him." Otogi swallowed, unable to keep the eye contact. "And then he forgave me."

The queen gave the students a moment to understand what she was saying, something a few seemed to have a hard time with. One of them, a shaved boy with deep brown eyes, stood hesitatingly. When the queen gave him attention he blushed and almost stumbled over his tongue. "I-I-I just… Your majesty… She said," he waved in Malin's direction, "he didn't. Take care, I mean."

Yuniko nodded at him. "You are right. Sir Ken died before he could leave Scotland."

"How?" the boy asked and paled when the queen's expression darkened. He quickly sat back down to get out of the way for a possible punishment for his thoughtless question.

"He was killed." She turned her head to the overhead. "A week after his banishment, perhaps even less. Ken had not dared to leave Scotland because he believed that as long as he stayed within the kingdom he would be somehow safe."

The teacher stepped forward. "Now you are not making sense, lady. This painting is supposed to be of your death. When exactly did he paint it?"

Yuniko lifted her chin and looked down at the female teacher with a slight frown. "I died a few months after Sir Ken. He was not there to witness it. He could not possibly have made a painting of me in my moment of death during his lifetime."

The teacher was about to protest when Seto knocked on the image of the painting. "This," he said with narrowed eyes, "is a forgery, painted many years after Queen Yuniko's and even King Jonathan's regime."

"King Jonathan?"

"We will come to that," Ryou said quickly. "That question belongs to the end of the history behind the Battle Princess." He nodded to Seto.

"But before that we'll tell the story of this painting. For even if it wasn't painted during the seventeenth century it is still an image of a person who have lived."

A girl in the middle stood. "How can you tell it's a forgery?"

"Simple," Malin replayed. "The ribbon that tied her majesty's dress together was blue."

Everybody looked at the green ribbon that twisted around the arched body of a lost queen. Yuniko was wearing a blue green dress so no one had paid much attention to the colour of the painting's ribbon.

Seto spoke up again. "The owner of the painting was also the one who actually made it, though he in the museum said his grandmother had painted it, and he purposely painted the ribbon green."

"Why would he do that?" someone asked, obviously one who hadn't meant to open his mouth.

"So that he could recognize the queen when she was reborn," Malin replied.

Jono stood up but was silent. Since he didn't seem able to put words to his question he sat back down.

"The artist's name is Ken Scotte," Seto informed, making the students exchange disbelieving glances. "He stated that he was a descendant to queen Yuniko's half sister Ryouko."

"Which is impossible," Ryou stated firmly.

The teacher stepped up again, this time with something haughty around her mouth. "Half sister, you say? A bastard I assume. How can you be so sure she didn't have bastards of her own?"

Ryou's chin shot up. "Because the spring 1632 Ryouko entered a nun abbey while her sister, Kyoko, married a nobleman."

"So, this Scotte is…" the teacher silenced under Yuniko's hard glare.

"The Mr. Scotte who put me on canvas is the same man whom I banished four hundred years ago."

Mrs. Atac took short pause to take in that information. "That_ is_ impossible."

Yuniko blinked and Yohim's brown eyes glared at her with such intensity Mrs. Atac stepped back. Even the ones in the back saw the change of colour in the woman's eyes, because her entire appearance changed even if she still looked the same. Yohim stood. "How can _you_ be so sure?" Mrs. Atac opened and closed her mouth, trying to speak though she had no words to say. "We have not yet uncovered the truth and already are you laughing me off. I will not tolerate such treatment from you." She looked over the class. "Nor anybody else."

Even Yami and Bakura straightened up for Ma Yoro's stern and hard face, not wanting to know what she would do if they disobeyed her. If she threatened them now no one would think it was an empty one; she would do exactly what she said.

Yohim's shoulders were still drawn backwards, but her glare softened as she sat back down. Yuniko's blue eyes returned, but the expression stayed the same. "I have learnt there are two stories about me," she started calmly, still with glowing eyes. "One story tells I ascended the throne and disappeared during the winter the same year."

"But the other story is a legend," Ryou stated solemnly.

Seto looked through his notes after something as he spoke. "The legend stats that Yuniko I of Scotland, the Battle Princess," he looked up, "fought vampires."

"But that is the truth!"

Everybody turned and stared strangely at Honda, and only then did he realize the one who had spoken was he. Yuniko smiled a little. "We know the truth, and no matter what we say we will always be the only ones who _know_."

A boy to the far right stood. "Excuse me, my queen. But if what you say is true, then you fought count Dracula? I thought his residence was in Transylvania."

"Count Dracula?" Yuniko almost laughed and the rest of the tense atmosphere eased. "You must mean count Vald Dracul of the Dragon clan? He was the first vampire, and as you say he had his fortress in Transylvania during the 12th century."

"How do you know that?" Yuniko looked at him sternly, waiting. "Your majesty," the boy added.

"I needed information about my enemies and did my own research." She raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner that dared anybody to oppose her. "Have I not already told I had friends across my borders?"

"Of course you have, your majesty," the boy almost squeaked, not daring the queen's look. "Memory failed me. You must have had friends all over the world."

Yuniko's eyes narrowed dangerously. "My brother was engaged to the youngest daughter of the king of France, my council consisted people with relatives from many different countries in Europe and Malin was born in Wales while little Ryouko and Kyoko were both born in London." The queen's eyes flew over her keen listeners. "As monarch it is important to have contacts everywhere in order to stay as much at peace as possible, as well as being updated on everything that happens around the world. Being keen and observant of every voice and the crimes the counts thought they did without being noticed have always been important."

There was a twitch in the corner of Malin's mouth and she had to lift her head to speak. "Smuggling is one of the oldest crimes in history, and it will never cease to be."

"I could look between my fingers as long as it did not threaten Scotland or my people."

Bakura and Yami exchanged a look. This was a side of the queen they hadn't expected, but then again none of them were really sure what the life of a royalty was like and what it contained. Queen Yuniko must have had a hundred eyes and ears out.

Yuniko's smile broadened so slightly it wasn't even visible. She liked to turn over people's image of her and seeing the faces of the victims of her little mischief was always as fun.

"History does not tell much interesting," Seto spoke up, not letting the queen bath in the stares long enough. "1612 princess Yuniko, only daughter to Yue of the Forest clan and king Loutus III of Scotland, was born. 1615 the queen was banished for reasons there are no clear facts about."

Ryou held up some papers and waved a little with them. "Some say she was cheating on the king, that she was the castle's all man's whore. Other's say that she tried to kill the king out of jealousy because he was the one hiring whores. The third theory is that she tried to steal something precious and was caught. However the king didn't have heart enough to execute his queen."

"She tried to take me away," Yuniko said, her smile gone. Actually, her eyes were really dark after hearing the rumours about her parents. "Something happened when I was born, what I can not tell, but it scared both my father and mother and their visions of protecting me were very different. In the morning February 28 my mother was banished, but my father would have executed her had I not been there to stop him."

Seto nodded his head, as if what the queen said sounded logical. "You know the truth, Milady. Anyway, some interesting facts are that 1626 your majesty was fourteen years old, and already by then named Great Brittan's highest beauty."

"And some said that was an exaggeration," Jono voiced before he realized the words had been lying on his tongue just waiting to be said. He had known that part would come and prepared for it, subconsciously. He blushed and lowered his head so that he didn't have to see the queen's expression.

"I can not answer that," Yuniko said, once again smiling amused and the shadows almost cleared from her eyes. "I must admit I had not met every person on the island, or on Ireland, so I can not tell if that fact is true or not. But what is beautiful in me in your eyes, Mr. Jonouchi, may be ugly in your neighbour's."

"Nothing with her majesty is ugly," a male voice said and Yuniko wasn't sure where it came from, so she just smiled. She did notice a reddening face off to the back though.

A sigh was head from Ryou. "1630 the king passes away in an illness."

"Illness?" Yuniko suddenly asked very lowly.

"That is what all facts say, your majesty," Ryou said with and apologizing bow as if he too had known it was untrue facts. "There are no records that stat differently. Just like there are no absolute facts you had an older brother."

Yami frowned. He knew all this, but to suddenly hear what the world saw as facts when the truth obviously was different cut in his heart. Why hadn't prince Atemu been recorded? What about Princess Tea?

Yuniko's chest lifted as if she was about to puff her breath out, but instead she looked hard in front of her. "My brother was killed before my eyes the night of my sixteenth birthday, my father was killed before my eyes two years later. I did not wish to frighten my people and said my brother had fallen ill, but when my father died everybody knew about the vampires and knew what had happened when his death was announced. By then they could also guess what had happened to my brother. Why does history say I had no brother and that my father passed away in an illness?"

"The church," Jono said as he rose. He couldn't stop himself, something much stronger pushed the words forward, out his mouth. "The church fought the truth and decided vampires had never existed. The pope of Rome could not allow such unholy creatures to have walked the earth that God left to the humans."

Yuniko's eyes narrowed. She had had her talks with the pope as well and had never caught much liking in him. The head priest of the church near her castle hadn't liked the idea of her as the ruler of Scotland, but he had held his options to himself even if they had been showing on his face. The pope had thought he could have a great influence on her kingdom when she was queen, believing women to be weak rulers. Elizabeth I of England had kissed up to the pope, Yuniko I of Scotland had refused.

"I can understand that, Mr. Jonouchi," she said stiffly. "The pope and I were never friends. We only tolerated each other at the best of terms."

Seto nodded. Kyoko had followed Mokuba to eavesdrop on a meeting between the pope and the queen. The two conversations that had been going on, the words they had spoken and the tone with which they had been said, had frightened them so that none of them had dared to go close to Yuniko for six days.

"Anyway," Seto continued as he tried to shake off Kyoko's feelings of that one time of eavesdropping. "The records stat your majesty disappeared in the beginning of winter the same year, leaving Scotland in chaos without a ruler."

"Really?" Yuniko said as if that didn't surprise her. "Was the pope involved in that too, Mr. Jonouchi?"

"Yes, Milady," Jono answered without a thought. "He hated the fact he had not been there to choose the new monarch, and that king Jonathan had carried such absolute devotion to your majesty that he refused to leave the throne."

Flashes lit up the sky and thunder made the windows shake worriedly. If they answered to Yuniko's feelings or if it was just a coincidence nobody could tell, but Yuniko's face had hardened enough for anyone to believe.

"Tell me why I am not surprised," she said between clenched teeth. "I remember well the day I abdicated the throne to Jonathan Edwardson. It was not far till sunset and I had to get away from the castle and my people before that."

"Why?" a short girl to the left asked stupidly. Yuniko only moved her eyes to her.

"Because they were coming."

Another flash and boom of thunder. For a second the shadows became tall men with glowing eyes and white skin. And they were gone the second the pupils turned to look. Nobody needed to ask who had been coming.

"The war had to come to an end, and I am sad to say it did not."

"What happened?" Bakura asked. It was the first time he got Yuniko's unshared attention and her eyes went straight to find his. She was silent for a moment, staring at him as if in surprise.

"Something impossible to explain I fear," she said at last, softly staring into his eyes. "The three times gathered in one second of eternity and fought against the being the devil had thrown on earth. That night God told me that the vampire during my time called Sanguis was the devil's attempt to make a human. The Devil cannot give Life so he asked God to do so, but God refused and the devil threw his creation on the earth and went back to hell. The doll however was neither alive nor dead. Sunlight hurt it, but it was still able to move. It became what we humans call a vampire."

"Excuse me, your majesty," Mrs. Atac said, once again with her haughty smile plastered on her face. "But that sounds highly unreal."

"Of course it does," the queen said with a nod that wiped the smile right off the teacher's face. "That is why it is a legend, is it not? Because it is unreal, and the world is filled with realists."

Mrs. Atac didn't know what to say. The queen's eyes were daring her and winning. What could you say against someone with such dignity looking at you with eyes challenging your will to understand the truth?

"My brother was among the vampires," Yuniko continued. "The night of my sixteenth birthday he was killed and turned into a vampire. Since he was of royal blood he became a powerful one too, a very important one driven mad by his dying wish, his desire and Sanguis's whispers." There was a soul deep pain buried in her voice. Yami felt his chest tighten at the sound of it. "That last night of my life I had to fight him. Brother was driven beyond mad and I can not describe what he looked like. I can only say that with God holding my back our power was equal. We finished each other."

It was silent for a long moment, the pupils with their imagination trying to see the furious battle and Yuniko trying to push the images away from her mind. Seto saved the moment by placing another image on the overhead. Yami dropped his jaw along with most of his classmates.

"This is a copy of the handmade painting inside queen Yuniko's locket that was found in the grave made for queen Yuniko under the white castle from where she ruled. It is her and her ten years older brother Atemu."

"It's Yami!" someone exclaimed and everybody turned to the stunned teenager of Yugi's brother.

"Did you say 'Atemu'?" A girl in the front row asked, her voice thick with doubt and disbelief. "But that's your- I mean Yami's last name."

Yuniko only nodded, unable to keep the sadness completely away from her expression.

"Because I am a saint I am not allowed to go to Heaven."

"What?" Bakura, Jonouchi, Honda, Seto, Ryou and Malik all turned and stared at her along with everybody else in the room.

"But shouldn't you as a saint belong in Heaven?" Bakura asked, something unreadable in his eyes. Yuniko shook her head.

"I am not your average saint or martyr, I am the patron saint of Scotland. As such I can not leave my kingdom unguarded. My soul lingered in the petrified monument of my former body."

"What does that mean… your majesty?" Bakura asked, honestly curious.

"That her body turned to stone," Ryou answered and Seto moved the sheet on the overhead so the image below the one in the locket could be seen. An image to show the weathered stone body of Scotland's most holy ruler.

"That night God had so separate me from my brother completely, but he gave me a promise. I was unable to finish my mission that night, and so I had to be reborn again. God gave me the promise of letting me be reborn in the same family as my dear brother, so that what was lost could be recreated."

Honda frowned slightly. "What was lost?"

Yuniko smiled. "My brother's loving heart."

* * *

Queen Yuniko of Scotland passed the room where Yugi's and Malik's cloths were kept on course to the main gate. The rain had stopped and the storm had passed, but in the sky the dark clouds still lingered. Her mission was still not completely finished.

In the shadow of the gate stood a pitiful figure. The queen stopped in front of him.

"I really am a coward," Ken said lowly, tonelessly, mirroring the depth of self-contempt he felt. "I didn't even dare to come to your aid yesterday."

The queen said nothing. Malin also stood quiet behind her ruler and friend, her face equally expressionless. Ken never dared to look up from his former queen's feet.

"I can not even ask to be forgiven. Your majesty did once, I can not expect it again, can I?"

"No," Yuniko said honestly and Ken's face almost disappeared in the shadow of his pain, grief and bitter understanding. He didn't see Yuniko's soft smile. "Because I never held a grudge against you, because I know you so well, there is nothing I can forgive. But can you?"

Ken looked up at her face for the first time and tears escaped his eyes, falling over his scarred face.

"Can you forgive yourself, Sir Ken?" Yuniko asked again, softly. "And can you forgive me, for using you the way I have?"

The old vampire's body shook with sobs. Malin walked forward and embraced him wholeheartedly. "I forgive you," she said honestly. "I have hated you and held a grudge against you, but you have cleaned yourself in my eyes, so I forgive you."

Ryouko and Kyoko walked up to the kneeling pair and joined Malin.

"I forgive you," Ryouko said and meant it. "I no longer hate you or your uncle. I have forgiven you."

"Me also," Kyoko said and nodded, smiling. "I can not stay angry at somebody who honestly regrets his wrongdoings."

It was too much for the poor man. He had lived with his regret for so long it was indescribable how it felt to be forgiven.

"Free me, oh Queen of Earth," he prayed. "Release me from this life. Do to me what you did to his majesty and to Father Scot."

Scotland's patron saint heard his prayed and answered it.

* * *

Yami was looking for his brother along with Bakura. Yuniko had left with Malin in tow and when the applauders had died down Seto and Ryou had left as well.

In the main gate to the school they suddenly saw Yugi against the light of the last flash and boom of thunder. But what happened in that second of eternity none of them would ever forget.

The second stretched and Yuniko suddenly stood in front of them, smiling happily. Without saying a word her arms and entire being embraced them with all the love her heart held for them alone.

"Thank you," she said and the second ended.

They blinked against the light of the sun that flooded down onto the rain-whipped world and gave it all colours only the light can give. God's promise embraced the new world free from the creatures the Devil had once created. Yugi and his friends stood watching this colourful beautiful world when Yami called out to him.

"Yugi." He turned around, a smile in his green eyes. "What happened just now? Are you all right?"

"I am fine, brother." Yugi smiled from his own heart, from Yohim's and Yuniko's whose souls were at long last free from the bounds of earth. "Everything is fine now."

**The End**


End file.
